Ultrasound-guided removal of soft tissue foreign bodies in companion animals: A case series

Foreign bodies (FBs) retained in the subcutaneous tissues are a common reason for medical consultation. In small animals, FBs usually consist of vegetal materials, especially grass awns. Failure to remove the FBs is likely to give rise to acute or late complications. The surgical removal of the FBs can be invasive, costly and technically challenging. Ultrasound has become a mainstay in the detection of FBs and it can be used to guide the extraction of the FBs with a minimally invasive technique. This study describes the detection and extraction of soft-tissue FBs in small animals. One hundred-sixty-two patients, presenting at two veterinary clinics with suspected FBs retained in the soft tissues of various body districts, were considered. Once an ultrasound diagnosis was established, the ultrasound-guided removal of the FB was performed. A high-frequency linear transducer, a skin disinfection, sedation or anaesthesia was used when needed and a scalpel and some Hartmann forceps were also used. One hundred-eighty-two FBs were successfully removed in all the patients. In six cases, the FB was identified during a second ultrasonographic examination, after recurrence of the fistula. No complications were reported after the procedure. The extraction of the FB was performed in an echographic suite in 138 cases and in a surgery room with surgical intervention in 24 cases. In the latter situation, the surgical minimally invasive dissection of tissues under ultrasound guidance was performed before the removal of the FB. In conclusion, the ultrasound-guided removal of the FBs retained in the superficial soft tissue can be considered a good alternative to surgery. However, failure to remove a FB does not preclude the removal by traditional surgery

Characterization of the Pathogenic Potential of the Beach Sand Microbiome and Assessment of Quicklime as a Remediation Tool

Beach sand may act as a reservoir for potential human pathogens, posing a public health risk. Despite this, the microbiological monitoring of sand microbiome is rarely performed to determine beach quality. In this study, the sand microbial population of a Northern Adriatic Sea beach sand was profiled by microbiological (CFU counts) and molecular methods (WGS, microarray), showing significant presence of potential human pathogens including drug-resistant strains. Consistent with these results, the potential of quicklime as a restoring method was tested in vitro and on-field. Collected data showed that adding 1-3% quicklime (w/w) to sand provided an up to -99% of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, in a dose- and time-dependent manner, till 45 days post-treatment. In conclusion, data suggest that accurate monitoring of sand microbiome may be essential, besides water, to assess beach quality and safety. Moreover, first evidences of quicklime potential for sand decontamination are provided, suggesting its usage as a possible way to restore the microbiological quality of sand in highly contaminated areas

Frailty trajectories in ICU survivors: A comparison between the clinical frailty scale and the Tilburg frailty Indicator and association with 1 year mortality

Purpose: To test the agreement of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), their association with 3, 6 months and 1-year mortality and the trajectory of frailty in a mixed population of ICU survivors. Material and methods: This is a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal study on ICU survivors ≥18 years old with an ICU stay >72 h. For each patient, sociodemographic and clinical data were collected. Frailty was assessed during ICU stay and at 3, 6, 12 months after ICU discharge, through both CFS and TFI. Results: 124 patients with a mean age of 66 years old were enrolled. The baseline prevalence of frailty was 15.3% by CFS and 44.4% by TFI. Baseline CFS and TFI correlated but showed low agreement (Cohen's K = 0.23, p < 0.001). Baseline CFS score, but not TFI, was significantly associated to 1 year mortality. Moreover, CFS score during the follow-up was independently associated 1-year mortality (OR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.18-1.73). Conclusions: CFS and TFI identify different populations of frail ICU survivors. Frail patients before ICU according to CFS have a significantly higher mortality after ICU discharge. The CFS during follow-up is an independent negative prognostic factor of long-term mortality in the ICU population

Employment of Oligodeoxynucleotide plus Interleukin-2 Improves Cytogenetic Analysis in Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma

To compare the efficiency of novel mitogenic agents and traditional mitosis inductors, 18 patients with splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) were studied. Three cultures using oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) plus interleukin-2 (IL-2), or TPA, or LPS were setup in each patient. Seventeen/18 cases with ODN + IL2 had moderate/good proliferation (94, 4%) as compared with 10/18 cases with TPA and LPS (55%) (P = .015); 14/18 (77, 7%) cases with ODN + IL2 had sufficient good quality of banding as compared with 8/18 cases (44, 4%) with TPA and LPS. The karyotype could be defined from ODN + IL2-stimulated cultures in all 18 patients, 14 of whom (77, 7%) had a cytogenetic aberration, whereas clonal aberrations could be documented in 9 and in 3 cases by stimulation with LPS and TPA, respectively. Recurrent chromosome aberrations in our series were represented by aberrations of chromosome 14q in 5 patients, by trisomy 12 and 7q deletion in 4 cases each, and by abnormalities involving 11q and 13q in two cases each. These findings show that stimulation with ODN + IL2 offers more mitotic figures of better quality and results in an increased rate of clonal aberrations in SMZL, making this method ideal for prospective studies aiming at the definition of the prognostic impact of cytogenetic aberrations in this disorder

How unitizing affects annotation of cohesion

This paper investigates how unitizing affects external observers' annotation of group cohesion. We compared unitizing techniques belonging to these categories: interval coding, continuous coding, and a technique inspired by a cognitive theory on event perception. We applied such techniques for sampling coding units from a set of recordings of social interactions rich in behaviors related to cohesion. Then, we compared the cohesion scores the observers assigned to each coding unit. Results show that the three techniques can lead to suitable ratings and that the technique inspired to cognitive theories leads to scores reflecting variability in cohesion better than the other ones

La Vita dopo la confisca. Il riutilizzo dei beni sottratti alla mafia

Nel testo vengono descritte le previsioni normative e le difficoltà applicative del riutilizzo a fini sociali dei beni confiscati. Purtroppo, l’iter che porta al riutilizzo è estremamente complesso ed irto di ostacoli. Queste difficoltà, comunque, non sono insormontabili. Accanto agli abbandoni delle case e alla chiusura delle aziende, vi sono tante belle esperienze che meritano di essere portate all’attenzione. Sono il risultato di percorsi virtuosi. Di sinergie vincenti mediante le quali le parti sociali e le Istituzioni creano una rete di ausilio e di sostegno. In questo testo vengono presentate tre “buone pratiche” segno tangibile della presenza dello Stato a servizio della Comunità. Là dove c’era la criminalità, ora ci sono centri di assistenza, sedi di polizia municipale. Dove l’azienda alimentava un mercato malato e viziato, ora tanti lavoratori possono beneficiare di un lavoro pulito e tutelante. Due sono casi di riutilizzo di beni immobili (il Progetto Il Ponte di Pieve di Cento e la Villa Berceto in provincia di Parma) che sono stati realizzati grazie al contributo della Regione Emilia-Romagna in applicazione della Legge Regionale n. 3/2001 recante “Misure per l’attuazione coordinata delle politiche regionali a favore della prevenzione del crimine organizzato e mafioso, nonché per la promozione della cultura della legalità e della cittadinanza responsabile” . Ad essi abbiamo voluto accostare l’esperienza barese delle Gelaterie Gasperini che sono, ad oggi, uno dei progetti più riusciti di emersione di un’azienda dalla illegalità e che ha prodotto un aumento di fatturato e di posti di lavoro. L’elaborazione di questo testo racchiude alcune esperienze scaturenti dal Master in “Gestione e riutilizzo di beni e aziende confiscati alle mafie. Pio La Torre” giunto alla sua V edizione operante presso l’Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna e diretto dalla sotto-scritta. Nella convinzione che l’ente territoriale debba e può essere protagonista di un percorso riscatto e di emancipazione, nel testo abbiamo fornito una, seppur essenziale, cassetta degli attrezzi contenete un Vademecum per il riutilizzo dei beni confiscati destinato proprio agli enti locali

A VR Game-based System for Multimodal Emotion Data Collection

The rising popularity of learning techniques in data analysis has recently led to an increased need of large-scale datasets. In this study, we propose a system consisting of a VR game and a software platform designed to collect the player’s multimodal data, synchronized with the VR content, with the aim of creating a dataset for emotion detection and recognition. The game was implemented ad-hoc in order to elicit joy and frustration, following the emotion elicitation process described by Roseman’s appraisal theory. In this preliminary study, 5 participants played our VR game along with pre-existing ones and self-reported experienced emotions

Introduction of Probiotic-Based Sanitation in the Emergency Ward of a Children’s Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a major threat to public health, especially in the hospital environment, and the massive use of disinfectants to prevent COVID-19 transmission might intensify this risk, possibly leading to future AMR pandemics. However, the control of microbial contamination is crucial in hospitals, since hospital microbiomes can cause healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which are particularly frequent and severe in pediatric wards due to children having high susceptibility. Aim: We have previously reported that probiotic-based sanitation (PCHS) could stably decrease pathogens and their AMR in the hospital environment, reduce associated HAIs in adult hospitals, and inactivate enveloped viruses. Here, we aimed to test the effect of PCHS in the emergency room (ER) of a children’s hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Conventional chemical disinfection was replaced by PCHS for 2 months during routine ER sanitation; the level of environmental bioburden was characterized before and at 2, 4, and 9 weeks after the introduction of PCHS. Microbial contamination was monitored simultaneously by conventional culture-based CFU count and molecular assays, including 16S rRNA NGS for bacteriome characterization and microarrays for the assessment of the resistome of the contaminating population. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 was also monitored by PCR. Results and conclusions: PCHS usage was associated with a stable 80% decrease in surface pathogens compared to levels detected for chemical disinfection (P < 0.01), accompanied by an up to 2 log decrease in resistance genes (Pc < 0.01). The effects were reversed when reintroducing chemical disinfection, which counteracted the action of the PCHS. SARS-CoV-2 was not detectable in both the pre-PCHS and PCHS periods. As the control of microbial contamination is a major issue, especially during pandemic emergencies, collected data suggest that PCHS may be successfully used to control virus spread without simultaneous worsening of the AMR concern