Disturbi cognitivi nell'epilessia del lobo temporale in età evolutiva

Objectives. To describe the impact of childhood temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) on cognitive functions. Material and methods. Nine patients with TLE aged 11-17 years and 18 healty controls were investigated with a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Results. The performance of children with TLE was significantly worse across language, verbal short term memory and semantic tests, compared with the controls. Verbal and non-verbal recall was also impaired. A supplementary investigation of recognition memory showed a selective impairment in topographical memory. Conclusions. In our patients, the episodic memory impairment is similar, although less severe, to that reported in developmental hippocampal amnesia. Nevertheless, in our patients there are also impairments in semantic memory and more general language disorders. These data suggest that in TLE patients there is a more general dysfunction of the medial temporal left functions

Antifungal metabolites produced by <i>Trichoderma viride</i> against <i>Sclerotium rolfsii</i>

In this comunication we report our progress regarding the isolation and characterization of new antifungal metabolites from this strain of T. viride

Studio di fattibilità. Sistema per il monitoraggio in continuo del particolato emesso dal camino di un impianto FCC CO-Boiler di una raffineria

Questo studio di fattibilità nasce dalla richiesta della Commissione IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) di far implementare, al sistema di gestione delle emissioni gassose, un sistema per il monitoraggio in continuo per la quantificazione delle polveri emesse dal camino di un impianto FCC CO-Boiler (Fluid Catalytic Cracking) di una raffineria. Per verificare la fattibilità tecnica di questa richiesta sono stati studiati sia i dati storici di monitoraggio delle emissione gassose del camino, per l’individuazione delle condizioni fluido dinamiche, sia i principi di funzionamento delle tecniche strumentali in commercio e usate per scopi simili. Da questi dati si sono ricavate le condizioni fluido dinamiche dell'effluente gassoso e la distribuzione granulometrica del particolato emesso in atmosfera, nelle tre seguenti classi granulometriche dia>10, 10<dia<2.5, dia<2.5 micrometri, da cui sono stati successivamente desunti i parametri di progetto. Dallo studio delle tecnologie già esistenti per il monitoraggio delle polveri è stato individuato un sistema, conforme alle condizioni del camino, che vede l'uso contemporaneo di una sonda elettrodinamica e di una sonda laser scattering. L'impiego di queste due tecniche strumentali è necessaria al fine di assicurare una corretta misurazione del particolato nelle diverse condizioni di funzionamento del camino

Prospects for doubling the range of Advanced LIGO

In the coming years, the gravitational wave community will be optimizing detector performance for a variety of astrophysical sources that make competing demands on the detector sensitivity in different frequency bands. In this paper we describe a number of technologies that are being developed as anticipated upgrades to the Advanced LIGO detector, and quantify the potential sensitivity improvement they offer. Specifically, we consider squeezed light injection for reduction of quantum noise, detector design and materials changes which reduce thermal noise, and mirrors with significantly increased mass. We explore how each of these technologies impacts the detection of the most promising gravitational wave sources, and suggest an effective progression of upgrades which culminate in a factor of two broadband sensitivity improvement

Bevacizumab as maintenance therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: A meta-analysis of individual patients' data from 3 phase III studies.

The real impact of bevacizumab maintenance as single agent in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) remains unclear. SAKK-41/06 and PRODIGE-9 failed to demonstrate the non-inferiority and superiority of bevacizumab versus no maintenance, respectively, while AIO-KRK-0207 showed the non-inferiority of maintenance bevacizumab versus bevacizumab and fluoropyrimidines for time to strategy failure.Bibliography electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched for English published clinical trials prospectively randomizing mCRC patients to receive bevacizumab maintenance or not after first-line chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. Individual patients' data (IPD) were provided by investigators for all included trials. Primary end-points were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), both from the start of induction and maintenance. Univariate and multivariate analyses for PFS and OS were performed.Three phase III studies - PRODIGE-9, AIO-KRK-0207 and SAKK-41/06 - were included. Considering the different timing of randomization, IPD of patients not progressed during induction and starting maintenance phase entered the analysis. 909 patients were included, 457 (50%) received bevacizumab maintenance. Median PFS from induction start was 9.6 and 8.9 months in bevacizumab group versus no maintenance group, respectively (HR 0.78; 95%CI: 0.68-0.89; p 0.0001). Subgroups analysis for PFS showed a significant interaction according for RAS status (p = 0.048), with a maintenance benefit limited to RAS wild-type patients. No difference in terms of OS was observed.Despite the statistically significant PFS improvement for bevacizumab maintenance, the absolute benefit appears limited. Subgroup analysis shows a differential effect of bevacizumab maintenance in favor of RAS wild-type patients. Considering these results, maintenance therapy with fluoropyrimidine with or without bevacizumab remains the first option. Single agent bevacizumab maintenance can be considered in selected cases, such as cumulative toxicity or patient's refusal, in particular for RAS wild-type patients

Pearsonema spp. (Family Capillariidae, Order Enoplida) Infection in Domestic Carnivores in Central–Northern Italy and in a Red Fox Population from Central Italy

Pearsonema spp. nematodes infect the urinary bladder of domestic and wild carnivores. The red fox is considered a reservoir of Pearsonema plica, while the prevalence of Pearsonema spp. in domestic carnivores is still poorly known. This study aimed to assess the occurrence of Pearsonema spp. infection in privately owned cats (26) and dogs (83) from central and northern Italy alongside occurrence in red foxes (42) from central Italy. In positive dogs and cats, associated clinical signs were also evaluated. Urine samples were first examined under a stereomicroscope; then, they were centrifuged and microscopically examined after a flotation test. As for foxes, the urinary bladders were opened and urine was collected and processed as above, while collected nematodes were identified at the species level. Among examined animals, 2/26 cats (7.7%), 1/83 dogs (1.2%), and 38/42 foxes (90.5%) scored positive. Recurrent cystitis, pollakiuria, and hematuria were the main clinical signs in symptomatic dogs and cats. This is the first study on Pearsonema spp. infection in domestic carnivores examining a large number of privately owned pet animals. Obtained results confirm the role of the red fox as a reservoir for P. plica and suggest a possible high occurrence of Pearsonema spp. infection in domestic cats of central Italy

An architecture for using commodity devices and smart phones in health systems

The potential of patient-centred care and a connected eHealth ecosystem can be developed through socially responsible innovative architectures. The purpose of this paper is to define key innovation needs. This is achieved through conceptual development of an architecture for common information spaces with emergent end-user applications by supporting intelligent processing of measurements, data and services at the Internet of Things (IoT) integration level. The scope is conceptual definition, and results include descriptions of social, legal and ethical requirements, an architecture, services and connectivity infrastructures for consumer-oriented healthcare systems linking co-existing healthcare systems and consumer devices. We conclude with recommendations based on an analysis of research challenges related to how to process the data securely and anonymously and how to interconnect participants and services with different standards and interaction protocols, and devices with heterogeneous hardware and software configurations

Eliciting Preferences for Clinical Follow-Up in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Using Best-Worst Scaling.

OBJECTIVES: There are no commonly accepted standards for monitoring patients treated for head and neck cancer. The aim of this study was to assess patients' preferences for different aspects of follow-up. METHODS: A best-worst survey was conducted in a sample of head and neck cancer patients in clinical follow-up at the National Cancer Institute (Milan, Italy). Conditional logit regression with choice as the dependent variable was run to analyse the data. A covariate-adjusted analysis was performed in order to identify socio-demographic and clinical factors related to the selection of best-worst items. The participants were asked to report any difficulties encountered during the survey. RESULTS: A total of 143 patients, predominantly male (74%) and with a mean age of 58 years were enrolled in the survey. The strongest positive preference was expressed for a hospital-based program of physical examinations with frequency decreasing over time. Conversely, the lowest valued item was not performing any positron emission tomography (PET) scan during follow-up. Patients with high educational levels were more likely to value attending a primary care-based program and undergoing intensive radiological investigations. Other patient-specific variables significantly associated with the choice of items were employment and living status, time already spent in follow-up and number of treatments received. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, patients were more likely to choose an intensive follow-up scheme broadly consistent with the program currently administered by the hospital. There is little evidence of preference heterogeneity that might justify customized programs based on demographics. The best-worst scaling task appeared feasible for most participants

New treatment opportunities for patients with advanced and/or metastatic thyroid cancer

No abstract availabl