Assessment of lipid oxidation and microbial decontamination of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets processed by plasma-activated water (PAW)

Plasma activated water (PAW) is emerging as a mild and environmentally friendly technology for microbial and chemical decontamination of food. The aim of this work was to evaluate the degree of oxidation of lipids of sardine tissue treated by PAW generated with a pulsed corona discharge. The effect of PAW on the natural microflora of the fish was also evaluated. Under the adopted experimental conditions, PAW was able to reduce the number of mesophilic aerobes and Pseudomonas spp. by 0.22 and 0.20 log units, respectively, but no increase in shelf life was observed at chilling temperatures compared to water washing. A loss of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and an increase in volatile oxidation products derived from the cleavage of PUFA hydroperoxides were observed at the longest treatment duration. Twelve cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) were identified in sardine lipids, but no significant differences in total COPs content were observed between PAW processed and control samples. Free radical mediated oxidation pathways led to the most abundant COPs, but a significant contribution of non-radical pathways was also observed. Further studies are needed to better understand the low efficiency of PAW in microbial decontamination of proteinaceous materials

Analisi dei modelli organizzativi di risposta al COVID-19 in Italia: evidenze da 2 anni di ISTANT REPORT Altems

Sistematizzazione e pubblicazione settimanalmente un report per analizzare in modo sistemico e comparativo i modelli di risposta adottati dalle Regioni in risposta all'emergenza da COVID- 1

Risk factors associated with adverse fetal outcomes in pregnancies affected by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a secondary analysis of the WAPM study on COVID-19.

Objectives To evaluate the strength of association between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Methods Secondary analysis of a multinational, cohort study on all consecutive pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 from 73 centers from 22 different countries. A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite adverse fetal outcome, defined as the presence of either abortion (pregnancy loss before 22 weeks of gestations), stillbirth (intrauterine fetal death after 22 weeks of gestation), neonatal death (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), and perinatal death (either stillbirth or neonatal death). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate parameters independently associated with the primary outcome. Logistic regression was reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.6+/-9.5 weeks, with 8.0% of women being diagnosed in the first, 22.2% in the second and 69.8% in the third trimester of pregnancy. There were six miscarriage (2.3%), six intrauterine device (IUD) (2.3) and 5 (2.0%) neonatal deaths, with an overall rate of perinatal death of 4.2% (11/265), thus resulting into 17 cases experiencing and 226 not experiencing composite adverse fetal outcome. Neither stillbirths nor neonatal deaths had congenital anomalies found at antenatal or postnatal evaluation. Furthermore, none of the cases experiencing IUD had signs of impending demise at arterial or venous Doppler. Neonatal deaths were all considered as prematurity-related adverse events. Of the 250 live-born neonates, one (0.4%) was found positive at RT-PCR pharyngeal swabs performed after delivery. The mother was tested positive during the third trimester of pregnancy. The newborn was asymptomatic and had negative RT-PCR test after 14 days of life. At logistic regression analysis, gestational age at diagnosis (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.8-0.9 per week increase; pPeer reviewe

Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: This was a multinational retrospective cohort study including women with a singleton pregnancy and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, conducted in 72 centers in 22 different countries in Europe, the USA, South America, Asia and Australia, between 1 February 2020 and 30 April 2020. Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasopharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite measure of maternal mortality and morbidity, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), use of mechanical ventilation and death. RESULTS: In total, 388 women with a singleton pregnancy tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR of a nasopharyngeal swab and were included in the study. Composite adverse maternal outcome was observed in 47/388 (12.1%) women; 43 (11.1%) women were admitted to the ICU, 36 (9.3%) required mechanical ventilation and three (0.8%) died. Of the 388 women included in the study, 122 (31.4%) were still pregnant at the time of data analysis. Among the other 266 women, six (19.4% of the 31 women with first-trimester infection) had miscarriage, three (1.1%) had termination of pregnancy, six (2.3%) had stillbirth and 251 (94.4%) delivered a liveborn infant. The rate of preterm birth before 37 weeks' gestation was 26.3% (70/266). Of the 251 liveborn infants, 69/251 (27.5%) were admitted to the neonatal ICU, and there were five (2.0%) neonatal deaths. The overall rate of perinatal death was 4.1% (11/266). Only one (1/251, 0.4%) infant, born to a mother who tested positive during the third trimester, was found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women is associated with a 0.8% rate of maternal mortality, but an 11.1% rate of admission to the ICU. The risk of vertical transmission seems to be negligible. © 2020 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

EVOLUTION OF TEAMWORKING PRACTIES: OVERCOMING TEAM BOUNDARIES AND MANAGING UNEXPECTED EVENTS

La tesi ha l’ambizione di fornire nuove evidenze sul lavoro in team attraverso l’analisi delle dinamiche interne al gruppo e delle relazioni intra e inter-organizzative. In particolare, adottando la prospettiva degli individui all’interno del gruppo, il fine ultimo è quello di colmare alcuni importanti gap presenti ad oggi in letteratura. In primo luogo, una delle principali sfide che caratterizzano l’ambiente odierno riguarda gli antecedenti che spingono i membri di un team a scambiare conoscenze e informazioni con altri team all’interno di una stessa organizzazione o esterni a quest’ultima. Inoltre, la letteratura è ricca di evidenze circa la composizione ottimale del team e il raggiungimento di migliori performance. Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni la pandemia da Covid-19 ha rappresentato una delle principali minacce, soprattutto per le organizzazioni sanitarie cui sono stati richiesti rapidi adattamenti e cambiamenti importanti. Infatti, nonostante i team rappresentino uno strumento ampiamente utilizzato in molte organizzazioni, l’evoluzione di tali pratiche ha posto nuove e importanti sfide. Nel dettaglio la tesi è così sviluppata: il primo e il secondo paper forniscono evidenze in merito agli antecedenti che portano i membri del team a instaurare relazioni con colleghi esterni finalizzate al raggiungimento degli obiettivi del team. Il terzo paper analizza, invece, l'impatto della pandemia sulla qualità dell'assistenza erogata dalle strutture sanitarie fornendo importanti implicazioni per lo sviluppo dei team multidisciplinari in tale ambito.This thesis aims at investigating team dynamics and inter team relations identifying the antecedents that lead to those team members’ behavior and, thus, providing fresh evidence for managers and policy makers. The objective is to address some major gaps in team literature: firstly, dynamics among team members could have an impact on team performance and effectiveness, and in this sense, the exchange of knowledge and information across boundaries represents one of the major challenges in today’s turbulent environment; secondly, many studies have been conducted on the optimal composition of team and on the dynamics that enable or disable the performance of the team itself. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the major threats experienced by healthcare organizations requiring a quick adaptation and important changes. Nowadays, teams are widely used in many organizations, nevertheless, these practices have evolved during time posing new challenges that need to be addressed by the management. In detail the thesis is structured as follow: the first and the second paper provide fresh insights on the antecedents that lead team members to engage in boundary spanning activities. The third paper analyses the impact of the pandemic on the quality of care provided including important implications for teamwork practices

Team Performance and Team Members’ Status: The Motives Underlying Boundary-Spanning Search Processes

The article analyses search processes in teams by focusing on problemistic search and slack search which are both dependent on team goals and performance-aspiration levels. Advancing existing literature, it focuses on team members’ social status – related to their embeddedness in the network of advice-giving ties - and on their perception of team performance. Our research draws on a sample of 174 professionals working within 23 multidisciplinary teams in the healthcare context. The study provides novel insights to team and performance feedback literature by demonstrating that team members engage in boundary-spanning activities as a form of problemistic search, hence, to search for fresh knowledge in response to performance setback. Interestingly, individuals with high informal status prove to be less inclined to engage in boundary spanning activities as problemistic search but more inclined to do so as a form of slack search, so in response to team performance above aspiration levels

Effect of plasma-activated water (PAW) soaking on the lipid oxidation of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets

The efficacy of plasma-activated water (PAW) as a chemical-free and environmentally friendly preservative has been documented for a variety of foods, but the onset of lipid oxidation induced by plasma-reactive species has been less extensively studied. In this work, global indices (peroxide value, UV specific absorbance) and direct analytical determinations of volatile and non-volatile oxidation products were performed on sardine lipids extracted from fish fillets immersed in PAW (treatments) and distilled water (controls) for 10-30 min. Evidence of PAW-induced lipid oxidation was provided by higher UV specific absorbances and higher levels of C5-C9 secondary volatile oxidation products in the treated samples. However, the degree of fatty acid oxidation was not sufficient to cause a significant reduction in nutritionally valuable eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Twelve cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) were identified in the sardine lipids, but no significant differences in total COPs content were found between PAW processed and control samples

L'importanza dell'organizzazione in oncologia: collaborazione e coordinamento. Evidenze da una ricerca intervento sul tumore del polmone

Inter and intra organizational coordination is a key topic for organizational scholars, especially in the healthcare sector. Despite a wide literature on multidisciplinary team management of cancer patients, existing evidence have not fully analysed which structures, actors, tools and social dynamics are associated with an effective clinical team. This study, through the action research, analyses the current ways of management of Lung Cancer Patients and proposes an optimal model consisting in some organizational guidelines to be applied to ensure an effective management. Our analysis identifies and detail three pillars characterizing the optimal model: 1) the characteristics of the disease management team, 2) the organizational infrastructure ensuring the adoption of Clinical pathways, 3) an integrated system of indicators

Impact of Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) Treatments on the Oxidation of Pistachio Kernel Lipids

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a non-thermal technology that could be applied for food decontamination from both biological (microorganisms) and chemical (pesticides, food allergens, mycotoxins) contaminants, thanks to the production of reactive species (RS). However, RS could also promote the onset and the progress of food lipid oxidation, which may limit the quality and acceptability of the final products. The aim of this work was to assess the oxidation degree of pistachio kernels after treatment in a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD). Two different operative conditions for CAP generation were investigated, resulting in the production of high (800 ppm) or low (300 ppm) concentrations of ozone. Limited amounts of hydroperoxides (3.00–4.22 mEq O2/kg), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, 0.072–0.600 mg TEP/g oil), and phytosterol oxidation products (POPs, 14.43–17.20 μg/g) were observed in lipids of both control and plasma processed pistachios. Plasma treatments did not significantly affect the total fatty acid composition and the amounts of identified unsaponifiable matter constituents (4-desmethylsterols, 4,4-dimethylsterols, 4-methylsterols), except for an unexpected significant increase of γ-tocopherol content in extracted oils. These findings contribute to gaining further knowledge for the scale-up of CAP technology to industrial processing

Analisi dei modelli organizzativi di risposta al COVID-19 in Italia: evidenze da 2 anni di ISTANT REPORT Altems

all’anno 2020 la storia dell’umanità ha dovuto fare i conti con la diffusione del Sars-COV-2 che ha generato in Italia, come in molti Paesi del pianeta una emergenza, sanitaria, sociale ed economica. L’Alta Scuola di Economia e Management dei Sistemi Sani- tari della Facoltà di Economia dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica (Sezione di Igiene) della Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia “A. Gemelli”, Cerismas (Centro di Ricerca e Studi in Management Sanitario), il Gruppo di Organizzazione Aziendale del DiGES Diparti- mento di Giurisprudenza, Economia e Sociologia dell’Università della Magna Graecia di Catanzaro, e il Centro di Ricerca sulla Leadership in Medicina della Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia “A. Gemelli” dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, ha settimanalmente pubblicato un Report per analizzare in modo sistematico e comparativo i modelli di risposta adottati dalle Regioni in risposta all’emergenza Covid-19, partendo dall’analisi epidemiologica dell’evoluzione della pandemia. A due anni dal primo paziente in Italia con COVID-19 di Codogno, ALTEMS ha voluto elaborare un report che sintetizzasse tutti gli elementi che hanno composto la risposta alla diffusione del virus soffermandosi sui modelli istituzionali ed organizzativi adottati dalle Regioni italiane. Questa serie settimanale, che aveva già visto una Edizione Speciale dell’Instant Report a fine anno 2020 in prossimità dell’avvio della campagna vaccinale, viene presentata in forma diversa rispetto agli 85 report precedenti. Il presente Report è stato strutturato per fornire una sintesi di quanto accaduto negli ultimi 24 mesi fornendo una lettura complessiva degli eventi e delle modalità di risposta adottate dalle Regioni