Bone-like inducing grafts: in vivo and micro-CT analysis

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

the urgent need of new mood stabilizers the promising results of memantine

Giulia Serra1,2, Francesca Demontis3 and Gino Serra4* 1Clinical and Research fellow, Child Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, I.R.C.C.S. Children Hospital Bambino Gesu, Rome, Italy. 2NESMOS Department, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University, Rome Italy 3International Consortium for Bipolar Disorder Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont (MA), USA 4Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, University of Sassari, Ital

Shape-Memory Polymers in Dentistry: Systematic Review and Patent Landscape Report

To perform a systematic review (SR) of existing literature and a patent landscape report (PLR) regarding the potential applications of shape-memory polymers (SMPs) in dentistry

The prevention of implant surface alterations in the treatment of reri-implantitis: comparison of three different mechanical and physical treatments

The surgical treatment of peri-implantitis is currently based on the removal of biofilms from the implant surface by primary means of mechanical and physical treatments. However, such approaches often determine some alterations of the implant surface with detrimental effects on re-osseointegration. This study aims to evaluate the effects of four different mechanical and physical treatments on titanium samples with moderately rough surface. Air powder abrasion (AP) with glycine powder, a titanium brush (TB) and a diode laser at 3 W (L3) and 4 W (L4) were tested. Surface morphology, roughness and chemical composition were then assessed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), white light interferometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The microscopic analysis revealed significant alterations in surface morphology on TB samples, while AP and L3 had only a minor or null impact. L4 samples revealed signs of overheating due to the excessive power. Nevertheless, the overall roughness of the samples was not significantly altered in terms of roughness parameters. Similarly, surface chemical composition was not significantly affected by the treatments. Among the treatments tested in this study, air powder abrasion with glycine powder and 3 W diode laser had the lowest impact on surface physicochemical properties.

Premature placental aging in term small-for-gestational-age and fetal-growth-restricted fetuses

Objective The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive assessment of the placental aging process through senescence and apoptotic markers in late-onset small fetuses classified as SGA or FGR. Study Design A prospective nested case-control study in singleton pregnancies delivering at term including 21 normally grown fetuses and 36 small fetuses classified into SGA (if birthweight was between the 3rd and 9th centile and normal fetoplacental Doppler; n=18) and FGR (if birthweight <3rd centile and/or abnormal cerebroplacental ratio or uterine artery Doppler; n=18). Telomerase activity, telomere length and RNA expression of senescence (Sirtuin 1,3,6) and apoptotic markers (p53, p21, BAX, Caspase 3 and 9) were analyzed in placental samples collected at birth. Results Compared with normally grown fetuses, both SGA and FGR presented signs of accelerated placental aging including lower telomerase activity (controls mean±SD 12.8% ± 6.6 vs SGA 7.98% ± 4.2 vs FGR 7.79% ± 4.6, p=0.008), shorter telomeres (controls 1.20 T/S ± 0.6 vs SGA 1.08 T/S ± 0.9 vs FGR 0.66 T/S ± 0.5, p=0.017), and reduced Sirtuin1 RNA expression (controls 1.55 2-' ' Ct ± 0.8 vs SGA 0.91 2-' ' Ct ± 0.8vs FGR 0.63 2-' ' Ct ± 0.5, p<0.001) together with increased p53 RNA expression (controls median(IQR) 1.072-' ' Ct (3.2) vs SGA 5.39 2-' ' Ct (15) vs FGR 3.75 2-' ' Ct (7.8), p=0.040), with a significant linear tendency across severity stages. In addition, FGR cases presented signs of apoptosis with increased RNA levels of Caspase 3 (controls 0.94 2-' ' Ct (1.1) vs FGR 3.98 2-' ' Ct (30), p=0.031) and Caspase 9 (controls 1.21 2-' ' Ct (4.0) vs FGR 3.87 2-' ' Ct (8.7), p=0.037) as compared to controls

Years of life that could be saved from prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes premature death and loss of life expectancy worldwide. Its primary and secondary prevention can result in a significant number of years of life saved. AIM: To assess how many years of life are lost after HCC diagnosis. METHODS: Data from 5346 patients with first HCC diagnosis were used to estimate lifespan and number of years of life lost after tumour onset, using a semi-parametric extrapolation having as reference an age-, sex- and year-of-onset-matched population derived from national life tables. RESULTS: Between 1986 and 2014, HCC lead to an average of 11.5 years-of-life lost for each patient. The youngest age-quartile group (18-61 years) had the highest number of years-of-life lost, representing approximately 41% of the overall benefit obtainable from prevention. Advancements in HCC management have progressively reduced the number of years-of-life lost from 12.6 years in 1986-1999, to 10.7 in 2000-2006 and 7.4 years in 2007-2014. Currently, an HCC diagnosis when a single tumour <2 cm results in 3.7 years-of-life lost while the diagnosis when a single tumour 65 2 cm or 2/3 nodules still within the Milan criteria, results in 5.0 years-of-life lost, representing the loss of only approximately 5.5% and 7.2%, respectively, of the entire lifespan from birth. CONCLUSIONS: Hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence results in the loss of a considerable number of years-of-life, especially for younger patients. In recent years, the increased possibility of effectively treating this tumour has improved life expectancy, thus reducing years-of-life lost

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

The “Diabetes Comorbidome”: A Different Way for Health Professionals to Approach the Comorbidity Burden of Diabetes

(1) Background: The disease burden related to diabetes is increasing greatly, particularly in older subjects. A more comprehensive approach towards the assessment and management of diabetes’ comorbidities is necessary. The aim of this study was to implement our previous data identifying and representing the prevalence of the comorbidities, their association with mortality, and the strength of their relationship in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes, developing, at the same time, a new graphic representation model of the comorbidome called “Diabetes Comorbidome”. (2) Methods: Data were collected from the RePoSi register. Comorbidities, socio-demographic data, severity and comorbidity indexes (Cumulative Illness rating Scale CIRS-SI and CIRS-CI), and functional status (Barthel Index), were recorded. Mortality rates were assessed in hospital and 3 and 12 months after discharge. (3) Results: Of the 4714 hospitalized elderly patients, 1378 had diabetes. The comorbidities distribution showed that arterial hypertension (57.1%), ischemic heart disease (31.4%), chronic renal failure (28.8%), atrial fibrillation (25.6%), and COPD (22.7%), were the more frequent in subjects with diabetes. The graphic comorbidome showed that the strongest predictors of death at in hospital and at the 3-month follow-up were dementia and cancer. At the 1-year follow-up, cancer was the first comorbidity independently associated with mortality. (4) Conclusions: The “Diabetes Comorbidome” represents the perfect instrument for determining the prevalence of comorbidities and the strength of their relationship with risk of death, as well as the need for an effective treatment for improving clinical outcomes