Nomophobia in healthcare: an observational study between nurses and students

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The abuse of technical devices can be considered a form of addiction that is defined in current literature as Nomophobia. The phenomenon appears to be quite widespread among nurses and nursing students, and nomophobic behaviours of professionals can lead to a reduction in the quality of the care provided. The aim of this study is to investigate the situation in a University and in a hospital in northern Italy and evaluate the levels of nomophobia among nurses and students. METHODS: An observational study was conducted with a questionnaire using a sample of nursing students and nurses.  Both of the studies had the common goal of investigating the levels of nomophobia and   evaluate the comparison between the two groups. RESULTS: In general, neither nurses nor students seem to demonstrate nomophobia's critical levels. The comparison of the daily use of the smartphone between nurses and students shows that the frequent use of students is balanced by the nurses' daily trend line that progressively decreases. Both nurses and students affirm to use their smartphones at work with a certain frequency although, especially among the students, it is usually for appropriate and justified reasons. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to consider the development of an educational project that regulates the use of smartphones, explaining the meaning of nomophobia, right from the first year of the University experience so as to correctly address the students'  (and future professionals') behaviours  to make them aware of the misuse of mobile phones, especially in the clinical setting that can easily cause distractions and consequently irreversible  errors

Laparotomic vs laparoscopic ovariectomy: comparing the two methods. The ovariectomy in the bitch in laparoscopic era

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of ultrasound scalpel during laparoscopic ovariectomy in the bitch. METHODS: Two groups of 10 subjects each, of different races and ages, were compared. In the first group, ovariectomy was performed laparoscopically, using harmonic scalpel to remove ovary. In the second group surgery was performed by means of classical laparotomy. RESULTS: Pre-operative time was similar in both groups. Total operative time, from incision to skin suture, showed significant difference between the two groups, being laparoscopy faster than laparotomy. Partial operative time for bilateral oophorectomy resulted lower using open technique, but, considering each ovary, there was no significant difference in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The use of harmonic scalpel to perform ovariectomy during laparoscopy is an effective time-sparing surgical approach compared to the already great practicality of laparotomy

Argon plasma coagulation in the treatment of post-radiotherapy rectal bleeding

Introduction: Chronic radiation proctitis is often associated to radiotherapy for treatment of pelvic cancer. The most common side effect of this pathological condition is rectal bleeding but despite the great number of clinical approaches and techniques that have been employed no consensus for the management of it is available. Although prospective randomized trials about hemorrhagic radiation proctitis are still lacking, endoscopic approach delivering an Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) seems to be a successful and available option. Patients and Methods: Sixteen patients suffering from post-radiotherapy rectal bleeding were followed. In the nine cases presenting a rectum ulcerative colitis (RUC) like endoscopic picture a 5-ASA therapeutic approach was chosen initially, followed by an APC treatment of areas of telangectasias. The other cases, presenting only areas of telangectasias, were treated only with APC. Results: 5-ASA therapy led to an improvement of inflammation state related to RUC but recurrence of rectal bleeding caused by telangectasias was observed. In these cases an additional APC treatment gave a total remission of the problem. Also in the other cases, presenting only areas of telangectasias, a remission of rectal bleeding was achieved through APC application. Conclusions: In the cases of radiation proctitis characterized by a severe compromission of rectal mucosa integrity an anti-inflammatory pharmacological therapy is necessary but not sufficient to abrogate rectal bleeding which is often caused by the presence of areas of telangectasias. In these cases a remission of the problem could be achieved through a combination of anti-inflammatory therapy (5-ASA) and APC

Gastric leiomyosarcoma: case report and review of literature

True smooth muscle neoplasms of the wall of digestive tract are rare, in particular in the stomach, and the benign ones are prevalent. We report a case of gastric leiomyosarcoma (LMS) that we observed, diagnosed to a 71 years-old man, with important comorbidities, who had already underwent the amputation of the right lower limb. In consequence of the discovery of anaemia and melaena he underwent an endoscopy of the upper GI tract and CT scan, which showed the presence of a neoformation of the gastric wall, but because of the thrombosis of the common iliac artery and the occurrence of the clinical picture of critical ischaemia, at first the patient underwent the amputation of the left lower limb e only then an intervention of atypical gastroresection. Despite the neoplastic infiltration of the resection margins and the impossibility to undertake an adjuvant chemotherapy, the follow-up at 6, 12 and 28 months did not show a recurrence of the disease that remained in phase of clinical remission

THE VALUE OF DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND FOR DETECTING OCCULT INGUINAL HERNIA IN PATIENTS WITH GROIN PAIN

Aims: chronic groin pain caused by an occult hernia can be a difficult clinical diagnosis and may require additional investiga- tive modalities. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the accuracy of ultrasound in diagnosing occult hernia in patients with recurrent inguinal pain and a negative clinical examination. Patients and methods: over a period of three years, a total of 76 patients were referred for ultrasound examination with clini- cally suspected occult inguinal hernia. Patients with positive US scans were offered surgery, while those with negative US findings were offered further imaging or other diagnostic tests. The ultrasound examination of the inguinal region was conducted using a 5- 10 MHz linear probe. The scan was performed with the patient in the supine and erect positions, in a relaxed state, as well as during coughing and during a Valsalva manoeuvre. Results: overall, ultrasound diagnosed 31 inguinal hernias and all 31 patients with positive scans underwent surgery. Surgery confirmed the ultrasound diagnosis in 30 patients, having only 1/31 no hernia at operation (100% ultrasound sensitivity and 96.9% specificity). Patients undergoing surgery showed complete symptom resolution at a three-month follow-up. Conclusions: this study confirms that ultrasound is capable of accurately diagnosing groin hernia and this may justify its use in patients with chronic groin pain due to a suspected occult herni

OBTAINING MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS FROM ADIPOSE TISSUE OR MURIN ORIGIN: EXPERIMENTAL STUDY.

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize rat adipose Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (AD-MSCs) in order to evaluate their proliferative potential and their ability to different cell types. AD-MSCs and Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) have the same characteristic in terms of plasticity. The advantage of adipose tissue is that it is an easier accessible source and it offers a large amount of MSCs by less invasive surgical tecniques. MSCs were obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue of Wistar rats. first of all microbiological controls were made to exclude the presence of bacteria of fungi in then tissue. Adipose tissue was mechanically and enzimatically fragmented and stromal cell fraction was seeded in adherent culture flasks in DMEM 20% FBS. After 48 h the medium was replaced. Cells were characterized by evaluating:1)their ability tho adhere to the plastic; 2) the clonogenic potential by Colony Forming Unit (CFU) assay, 3) their ability to differentiate in 3 mesodermal lineages (adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes). AD-MSCs are able to differentiate in adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes as confirmed by oil red'O staining, von Kossa staining and histological analuysis respectively. This first characterization is essential for the second part of our study in which we are planning to use AD-MSCs in vivo to restore renal function after an induced ischemic damage in experimental animals

THE NUCK'S CYST: A DISEASE EASILY CONFUSED FOR INGUINAL HERNIA. A CASE REPORT.

Nuck's canal cyst is a blind end adult residual of the fetal peritoneum. These rare cyst formations are usually found in the inguinal canal and can easily be mistaken for hernia, or enlarged limph nodes. Clinically, a Nuck's canal cyst appears as a painless or moderately painful swelling in inguinal area. We report the case of a 40 years-old woman with a painless swelling in her left inguinal region, believed a groin hernia but diagnosed as a Nuck's canal cyst only after intervention. Intraoperatively, the cyst was opened and sebsequently excised, closing the abdominal wall without the use of any sort of syntetic prostetic material

LOFT - a Large Observatory For x-ray Timing

The high time resolution observations of the X-ray sky hold the key to a number of diagnostics of fundamental physics, some of which are unaccessible to other types of investigations, such as those based on imaging and spectroscopy. Revealing strong gravitational field effects, measuring the mass and spin of black holes and the equation of state of ultradense matter are among the goals of such observations. At present prospects for future, non-focused X-ray timing experiments following the exciting age of RXTE/PCA are uncertain. Technological limitations are unavoidably faced in the conception and development of experiments with effective area of several square meters, as needed in order to meet the scientific requirements. We are developing large-area monolithic Silicon Drift Detectors offering high time and energy resolution at room temperature, which require modest resources and operation complexity (e.g., read-out) per unit area. Based on the properties of the detector and read-out electronics that we measured in the lab, we developed a realistic concept for a very large effective area mission devoted to X-ray timing in the 2-30 keV energy range. We show that effective areas in the range of 10-15 square meters are within reach, by using a conventional spacecraft platform and launcher of the small-medium class.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 7732, Paper No. 7732-66, 201