Geo-hazards of the San Vito peninsula offshore (southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea)

In this paper we present geomorphological hazard mapping of the San Vito Peninsula offshore (Sicilian margin of Tyrrhenian Sea), characterised by a very narrow continental shelf and a very dipping, tectonically active continental slope, no far from a seismogenic belt. The data set consists of morpho-bathymetric models achieved by means of multibeam survey and scattered high resolution seismic profiles. The morpho-bathymetric study highlighted some potential sites of geomorphological hazards, the most representative of which are: (i) two canyons developing from the upper slope off San Vito Cape down to the Erice basin; (ii) a dense network of small incisions across the upper slope; (iii) a very active landslide, developed onland and extending in the continental shelf close to the Scopello village. The geomorphological features that can generate submarine hazard are represented by: unstable sediment packages into canyon heads or along the upper slope; submarine canyons with regressive erosion; coastal landslides

Inflammatory Related Reactions in Humans and in Canine Breast Cancers, A Spontaneous Animal Model of Disease

Inflammatory cells are emerging markers in various cancers in human trials. The relationship between the inflammatory cells response, cancer grade, and progression has been investigated experimentally in a spontaneous canine model of breast cancer and in the unselected population (18–64 years.o.) under anti-HER2 treatments that represent the most prevalent population in this cancer type. The canine data (N samples = 101) were collected retrospectively for diagnosis in our regional area and evaluated by immunohistochemistry and haemato-chemistry. The inflammatory and immune-related adverse reactions (ADR) in humans were evaluated using EudraVigilance. The “Proportional Reporting Ratio” (PRR) of the mabs was calculated for each ADR with values >2 indicative of high risk. In dogs, we found elevated immunostaining of CD68-macrophages in the lymph node of the aggressive cancer G3 and infiltrating CD20+-lymphocyte. A high density of CD20 + lymphocytes was observed in G1 and a decrease in the density was observed with the histological degree of the tumors. The animals with the sample in G1 showed reduced serum platelet and neutrophil count and elevated lymphocytes and the opposite in severely affected animals. Inflammatory reactions with edema, skin reactions, extravasation, loss of effectiveness, and platelet count decrease (PRR > 13) were found with trastuzumab emtansine in humans, in the absence of immune system reactions. Trastuzumab i.v.-s.c. showed immune system reactions, loss of effectiveness, intolerances with drug withdrawal, technological issues (PRR > 7), and neutrophil count decrease reports. These reactions were less frequently reported for pertuzumab i.v. Case reports of platelet and neutrophil count decrease were not associated with disease progression with a better outcome in humans as in canine breast cancer. Therefore, infiltrating CD68-macrophages are associated with G3, while infiltrating CD20+ and elevated serum lymphocytes in parallel with reduced platelet and neutrophil count play a favorable role in human and canine breast cancer

Hemochromatosis Mimicked Gaucher Disease: Role of Hyperferritinemia in Evaluation of a Clinical Case

Gaucher disease is a disorder of lysosomes caused by a functional defect of the glucocere-brosidase enzyme. The disease is mainly due to mutations in the GBA1 gene, which determines the gradual storage of glucosylceramide substrate in the patient’s macrophages. In this paper, we describe the case of a 38-year-old man who clinically presented with hyperferritinemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, anemia and mild splenomegaly; a diagnosis of hemochromatosis was made 10 years earlier. Re-evaluation of the clinical case led to a suspicion of Gaucher disease, which was confirmed by enzymatic analysis, which was found to be below the normal range, and genetic evaluation, which identified compound heterozygosity N370S/RecNciI. We know that patients suffering from Gaucher disease can also have high ferritin levels. Even if the mechanism underlying the changes in iron metabolism is not yet elucidated, the chronic mild inflammatory state present in these patients probably causes the storage of ferritin in macrophages, resulting in hyperferritinemia. Therefore, in the presence of few typical signs and symptoms of the disease should raise an alarm bell in the clinicians, inducing clinical suspicion of Gaucher disease. Misdiagnosis and diagnostic delay in metabolic diseases could cause irreversible organ damage and delay the start of specific therapy for these patients

Step-by-step regeneration of tentacles after injury in anemonia viridis—morphological and structural cell analyses

Benthic marine invertebrates, such as corals, are often subjected to injury caused by several sources. Here, the differences and characteristics in injured and health tissues in terms of cellular components are shown through a histological investigation of the soft coral Anemonia viridis at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h, and 7 days after injury caused by tentacle amputation. In addition, a new tool was used for the first time in invertebrates, positron emission tomography, in order to investigate the events that occur during regeneration within a longer time period (0 h, 24 h, and 14 days after the tentacles were cut). Higher integrated density values were measured through a densitometric analysis in sections stained with Fontana-Masson at 24 h after the tentacles were cut. This suggests an increase in melanin-like containing cells and a subsequent increase in fibroblast-like cells differentiated by amoebocytes that converge to the lesion site in the early stages of inflammation and regeneration. This work provides, for the first time, an elucidation of the events that occur during wound-healing and regeneration in basal metazoan, focusing on the characterisation of immune cells and their role. Our results indicate that Mediterranean anthozoan proves to be a valuable model for studying regeneration. Many events highlighted in this research occur in different phyla, suggesting that they are highly conserved

Misdiagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever in patients with Anderson-Fabry disease

Fabry disease (FD) is an underdiagnosed pathology due to its symptomatology that overlaps with various systemic and rheumatic disorders, including familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). We examined the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) and α-galactosidase A (GLA) genes, whose mutations are responsible for FMF and FD, respectively, in 42 unrelated patients diagnosed with FMF, which revealed significant ambiguity regarding some of the symptoms which are also present in FD. The objective of this study was to determine the spectrum of mutations present in these genes, in order to identify cases of mistaken diagnosis of FMF and/or missed diagnosis of FD. Ten out of 42 patients had one mutation in homozygosis or two different mutations in heterozygosis in the MEFV gene; 20/42 had a single heterozygous mutation, and 12/42 did not have genetic alterations in MEFV. The analysis of the GLA gene conducted on all the samples revealed that three subjects, and some members of their families, had two different exonic mutations associated with FD. Family studies allowed us to identify eight other cases of FD, bringing the total undiagnosed subjects to 11/53. Analyzing the MEFV and GLA genes in patients with clinical diagnoses of FMF proved to be fundamentally important for the reduction of diagnostic errors

Systematic pathologic findings report of callosciurus finlaysonii (Horsfield, 1823) (rodentia, sciuridae) squirrels from maratea area (south italy) to investigate species-specific pathologies, reliability of co2 euthanasia method, and possible use as environmental sentinels

The aim of the present study was to macroscopically and microscopically describe the main pathological findings occurring in this invasive species, in order to better understand the real risks for naïve animals and humans. The present study was conducted on Callosciurusfinlaysonii squirrels (n = 165), captured in the Maratea area and euthanatized with CO2 according to a population control of invasive species of the Italian Agriculture Ministry project (ex CIPE project) and conferred to the Department of Veterinary Medicine of Bari (Italy). Macroscopic analysis demonstrated heart, lung, and liver congestion, probably due to the euthanasia method, and variable lesions of bowel, liver, and kidney. The microscopically examination showed the presence of lymphocytic infiltration in the lower layers of the bowel, suggesting enteritis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systemic report of gross and microscopical anatomopathological lesions in C.finlaysonii, in South Italy. The results could be useful to fill a gap of knowledge of this species in Italy

Social preferences, accountability, and wage bargaining

We assess the extent of preferences for employment in a collective wage bargaining situation with heterogeneous workers. We vary the size of the union and introduce a treatment mechanism transforming the voting game into an individual allocation task. Our results show that highly productive workers do not take employment of low productive workers into account when making wage proposals, regardless of whether insiders determine the wage or all workers. The level of pro-social preferences is small in the voting game, while it increases as the game is transformed into an individual allocation task. We interpret this as an accountability effect

On reminder effects, drop-outs and dominance: evidence from an online experiment on charitable giving

We present the results of an experiment that (a) shows the usefulness of screening out drop-outs and (b) tests whether different methods of payment and reminder intervals affect charitable giving. Following a lab session, participants could make online donations to charity for a total duration of three months. Our procedure justifying the exclusion of drop-outs consists in requiring participants to collect payments in person flexibly and as known in advance and as highlighted to them later. Our interpretation is that participants who failed to collect their positive payments under these circumstances are likely not to satisfy dominance. If we restrict the sample to subjects who did not drop out, but not otherwise, reminders significantly increase the overall amount of charitable giving. We also find that weekly reminders are no more effective than monthly reminders in increasing charitable giving, and that, in our three months duration experiment, standing orders do not increase giving relative to one-off donations

Molecular and clinical studies in five index cases with novel mutations in the GLA gene

Fabry disease is a metabolic and lysosomal storage disorder caused by the functional defect of the α-galactosidase A enzyme; this defect is due to mutations in the GLA gene, that is composed of seven exons and is located on the long arm of the X-chromosome (Xq21–22). The enzymatic deficit is responsible for the accumulation of glycosphingolipids in lysosomes of different cellular types, mainly in those ones of vascular endothelium. It consequently causes a cellular and microvascular dysfunction. In this paper, we described five novel mutations in the GLA gene, related to absent enzymatic activity and typical manifestations of Fabry disease. We identified three mutations (c.846_847delTC, p.E341X and p.C382X) that lead to the introduction of a stop codon in positions 297, 341 and 382. Moreover we found a missense mutation (p.R227P) in the exon 5 of the GLA gene and a single point mutation (c.639 + 5 G > T) occurring five base pairs beyond the end of the exon 4. These mutations have never been found in our group of healthy control subjects > 2300. The studied patients presented some clinical manifestations, such as cornea verticillata, hypo-anhidrosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, cerebrovascular disorders and renal failure, that, considering the null enzymatic activity, suggest that the new mutations reported here are related to the classic form of Fabry disease. The identification of novel mutations in patients with symptomatology referable to FD increases the molecular knowledge of the GLA gene and it gives clinicians an important support for the proper diagnosis of the disease

Management of duodenal stump fistula after gastrectomy for malignant disease: A systematic review of the literature

Background: Duodenal stump fistula (DSF) remains one of the most serious complications following subtotal or total gastrectomy, as it endangers patient's life. DSF is related to high mortality (16-20%) and morbidity (75%) rates. DSF-related morbidity always leads to longer hospitalization times due to medical and surgical complications such as wound infections, intra-abdominal abscesses, intra-abdominal bleeding, acute pancreatitis, acute cholecystitis, severe malnutrition, fluids and electrolytes disorders, diffuse peritonitis, and pneumonia. Our systematic review aimed at improving our understanding of such surgical complication, focusing on nonsurgical and surgical DSF management in patients undergoing gastric resection for gastric cancer. Methods: We performed a systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases were used to search all related literature. Results: The 20 included articles covered an approximately 40 years-study period (1979-2017), with a total 294 patient population. DSF diagnosis occurred between the fifth and tenth postoperative day. Main DSF-related complications were sepsis, abdominal abscess, wound infection, pneumonia, and intra-abdominal bleeding. DSF treatment was divided into four categories: conservative (101 cases), endoscopic (4 cases), percutaneous (82 cases), and surgical (157 cases). Length of hospitalization was 21-39 days, ranging from 1 to 1035 days. Healing time was 19-63 days, ranging from 1 to 1035 days. DSF-related mortality rate recorded 18.7%. Conclusions: DSF is a rare but potentially lethal complication after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Early DSF diagnosis is crucial in reducing DSF-related morbidity and mortality. Conservative and/or endoscopic/percutaneous treatments is/are the first choice. However, if the patient clinical condition worsens, surgery becomes mandatory and duodenostomy appears to be the most effective surgical procedure