Health Care Waste production: measures and estimates in “V. Cervello” Hospital, Palermo, Italy.

A monitoring work was carried out in May/June 2007 in one large hospital located in Palermo. The monitoring consisted in weighing the infectious waste containers filled in some Departments purposely chosen. As a second stage of the work a comparison was attempted between the results obtained from the waste production monitoring and the Hospital’s purchases recorded in the same time. A restricted list of purchased products out of the general one was extracted. Such list allows one to calculate approximately the mass of medical devices purchased and their composition. To these materials a reasonable change in humidity after use was attributed. It was possible in this deductive way to draw a probable amount and composition of waste materials really arising from health care activities (commonly – though not rigorously – considered all infectious), whose characters is forbidden to ascertain by direct inspection

Web-Appendix of: The Rich Domain of Uncertainty: Source Functions and Their Experimental Implementation.

ABSTRACT. In economic decisions we often have to deal with uncertain events for which no probabilities are known. Several normative models have been proposed for such decisions. Empirical studies have usually been qualitative, or they estimated ambiguity aversion through one single number. This paper introduces the source method, a tractable method for quantitatively analyzing uncertainty empirically that can capture the richness of ambiguity attitudes. The theoretical key in our method is the distinction between different sources of uncertainty, within which subjective (choice-based) probabilities can still be defined. Source functions convert those subjective probabilities into willingness to bet. We apply our method in an experiment, where we do not commit to particular ambiguity attitudes but let the data speak

Draft Genome Sequences of Three Novel Staphylococcus arlettae Strains Isolated from a Disused Biological Safety Cabinet

The genome sequences of three new strains of Staphylococcus arlettae named Bari1, Bari2, and Bari3 are presented. The strains exhibited tolerance to hexavalent chromium ions. An sprC gene encoding a putative chromium transporter was present in each of the three draft genome sequences

Study on the Influence of Chirality in the Threading of Calix[6]arene Hosts with Dialkylammonium Axles

The influence of chirality in calixarene threading has been studied by exploiting the “superweak anion approach”. In particular, the formation of chiral pseudo[2]rotaxanes bearing a classical stereogenic center in their axle and/or wheel components has been considered. Two kind of pseudo[2]rotaxane stereoadducts, the “endo-chiral” and “exo-chiral” ones, having the stereogenic center of a cationic axle inside or outside, respectively, the calix-cavity of a chiral calixarene were preferentially formed with specifically designed chiral axles by a fine exploitation of the so-called “endo-alkyl rule” and a newly defined “endo-α-methyl-benzyl rule” (threading of a hexaalkoxycalix[6]arene with a directional (α-methyl-benzyl)benzylammonium axle occurs with an endo-α-methyl-benzyl preference). The obtained pseudorotaxanes were studied in solution by 1D and 2D NMR, and in the gas-phase by means of the enantiomer-labeled (EL) mass spectrometry method, by combining enantiopure hosts with pseudoracemates of one deuterated and one unlabeled chiral axle enantiomer. In both instances, there was not a clear enantiodiscrimination in the threading process with the studied host/guest systems. Possible rationales are given to explain the scarce reciprocal influence between the guest and host chiral centers

PTEN as a predictive marker of response to conservative treatment in endometrial hyperplasia and early endometrial cancer. A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: Several markers have been studied to predict the responsiveness of endometrial hyperplasia (EH) and early endometrial cancer (EEC) to progestin therapy. PTEN has played a major role in this field, although its predictive significance is still undefined. We aimed to assess if loss of PTEN expression on pre-treatment endometrial specimen may be a predictive markers of response to progestins in EH and EEC. STUDY DESIGN: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Sciences, Scopus, ClinicalTrial.gov, OVID and Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles from the inception to May 2018. All studies assessing PTEN expression as predictive marker in EH and EEC treated with progestin were included. Relative risk (RR) for therapy failure was calculated with 95% confidence interval (CI) and a significant p-value<0.05, with a subgroup analysis based on the histologic category (EEC or EH) and the administration route of progestin (oral or intrauterine). RESULTS: Seven cohort studies assessing 376 patients were included. PTEN loss was not significantly associated with the outcome of therapy in the overall analysis (RR = 1.24, 95% CI, 0.88-1.76, p = 0.21), in + the subgroups of EEC (RR = 0.89, 0.32-2.49, p = 0.83), EH (RR = 1.30, 0.90-1.87 p = 0.16), oral progestin (RR = 1.25 0.88-1.79, p = 0.22) and intrauterine device (RR = 1.02, 0.36-2.87, p = 0.97). CONCLUSION: PTEN seems not to be useful as predictive marker of response to the conservative treatment of EH and EC, regardless of the administration route (oral or intrauterine) of progestins. We advise future researcher not to further assess PTEN as a stand-alone predictive marker

Comparative Genomics Suggests a Taxonomic Revision of the Staphylococcus cohnii Species Complex

Staphylococcus cohnii (SC), a coagulase-negative bacterium, was first isolated in 1975 from human skin. Early phenotypic analyses led to the delineation of two subspecies (subsp.), Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii (SCC) and Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. urealyticus (SCU). SCC was considered to be specific to humans, whereas SCU apparently demonstrated a wider host range, from lower primates to humans. The type strains ATCC 29974 and ATCC 49330 have been designated for SCC and SCU, respectively. Comparative analysis of 66 complete genome sequences-including a novel SC isolate-revealed unexpected patterns within the SC complex, both in terms of genomic sequence identity and gene content, highlighting the presence of 3 phylogenetically distinct groups. Based on our observations, and on the current guidelines for taxonomic classification for bacterial species, we propose a revision of the SC species complex. We suggest that SCC and SCU should be regarded as two distinct species: SC and SU (Staphylococcus urealyticus), and that two distinct subspecies, SCC and SCB (SC subsp. barensis, represented by the novel strain isolated in Bari) should be recognized within SC. Furthermore, since large-scale comparative genomics studies recurrently suggest inconsistencies or conflicts in taxonomic assignments of bacterial species, we believe that the approach proposed here might be considered for more general application

Testing constant absolute and relative ambiguity aversion

Recent applications have demonstrated the crucial role of decreasing absolute ambiguity aversion in financial and saving decisions. Yet, most ambiguity models predict that ambiguity aversion remains constant when individuals become better off overall. We propose the first tests of constant absolute and relative ambiguity aversion, using simple variations of the Ellsberg paradoxes. Our tests are axiomatically founded and grounded in the theoretical literature. We implemented these tests in an experiment. Our results call for the use of ambiguity models that can accommodate decreasing aversion toward ambiguity

Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated with Occult Cancer in Endometrial Hyperplasia

In the management of women diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia (EH), it is crucial to determine the risk of coexistent cancer. Diabetes mellitus has been recently suggested as a significant risk factor. However, results in this regard are conflicting. Our aim was to assess the association between diabetes mellitus and coexistent cancer in women diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by searching electronic databases from their inception to October 2018 for studies assessing the presence of coexistent cancer after a preoperative diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia in women stratified for diabetes mellitus. Odds ratio was calculated with 95% confidence interval; a p value <0.05 was considered significant. Twelve retrospective studies with 1579 EH were included. Diabetes mellitus showed significant association with the presence of cancer coexistent with endometrial hyperplasia (OR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.07-3.60; p = 0.03). Heterogeneity among studies was moderate (I2 = 55%). Funnel plot showed asymmetric distribution of OR values, with the large and accurate studies showing results stronger than small and less accurate one; this finding should exclude a publication bias. In women diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for coexistent cancer, and thus may be included in a predictive algorithm for the risk stratification. In women conservatively treated, glycemic control may be required to prevent the risk of progression. Further studies are necessary to confirm the clinical significance of diabetes mellitus in this field