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Acyclovir desensitization. A case report and a review of desensitization strategies
Get PDFIntroduction: Acyclovir is a synthetic purine nucleoside analog that is used to treat infections caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) by targeting the viral enzyme thymidine kinase. However, its use can lead to hypersensitivity reactions (HR) in rare cases, resulting in treatment discontinuation. Rapid drug desensitization (DD) by intravenous or oral administration protocols are used in these patients in order to avoid treatment discontinuation. This approach has been proven to be effective and safe. Here, we review all the desensitization strategies adopted so far, and also report our experience. Methodology: We reviewed all reports related to acyclovir desensitization; focusing on skin test results, protocols and premedication performed, and their effectiveness. We also report on the case of a 74-year-old woman affected by multiple myeloma who developed HR to acyclovir. She underwent skin tests, and lymphocyte proliferation test (LPT) with acyclovir, and was subsequently subjected to oral desensitization. Results. Six articles met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed in this review, along with a case report. All DD procedures were well-tolerated, with only mild reactions reported in one patient. Skin tests gave negative results but one result was deemed doubtful response. Moreover, the LPT performed in our case had positive result, indicating a hypersensitive immune response to acyclovir. Conclusions. Acyclovir desensitization is a safe and effective approach for patients experiencing HR. Standardized in vivo and in vitro testing are required to better estimate the risk of DD and find the safest individualized DD protocol
Spermatogenesis advancement in pre-pubertal meagre Argyrosomus regius treated with recombinant gonadotropins
No full textΤhe effects of recombinant meagre follicle stimulating hormone (rFsh) and luteinizing hormone (rLh) were evaluated on testicular maturation in pre-pubertal meagre Argyrosomus regius, an upcoming aquaculture species in the Mediterranean region. Fish (body mass 1092.9 ± 178.8 g) received seven weekly injections of meagre rFsh, together with an rLh injection at week 6. One group was further treated with weekly rFsh or rLh until week 11 and was sacrificed at week 12 (rFsh/rLh group, TREATED 12). The second group received further weekly injections of rFsh until week 12 and was then left untreated until week 21 (single rLh group, TREATED 21). Control fish received injections of saline solution. At week 12, the testes of the rFsh/rLh-treated fish (TREATED 12) showed increased gonadosomatic index and seminiferous tubule diameter, reduction of spermatogonial density, increase of post-meiotic spermatocysts and accumulation of luminal spermatozoa. In the single rLh-treated group (TREATED 21), apoptosis increased towards pre-treatment levels, demonstrating that the withdrawal of the Fsh stimulus ceased the process of spermatogenesis. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of rFsh/rLh treatment in stimulating testicular growth, spermiogenesis and spermiation in pre-pubertal meagre
Spittlebugs vs predators: the importance of incidental vibrations for the detections of threats by insect vectors of Xylella fastidiosa
No full textThe vibrational disruption of insect pests’ interaction with the environment is a new promising frontier in the control of either direct pest or insect vectors of plant pathogens. Reducing the frequency of insect–plant interactions leveraging on vibrational stimuli evoking the risk of predation could potentially affect the transmission rate of vector-borne plant pathogens as Xylella fastidiosa, whose main vector in Europe is the meadow spittlebug Philaenus spumarius. Here, we sought to address a fundamental question in the development of a behavioral manipulation strategy to disrupt spittlebug-mediated transmission of X. fastidiosa: are incidental vibrations emitted by predators a significant factor in spittlebugs’ risk detection? To respond to this question, we compared Philaenus spumarius response to hunting spiders collected in Apulian (southeastern Italy) olive orchards with the response to the sole spider vibrations recorded with a laser vibrometer and played back through a mini-shaker. A white noise and a leafhopper-emitted vibration were used as controls to evaluate spittlebugs’ response to vibrational signals not associated with a predation risk. In all trials, P. spumarius main response to spiders searching for the prey was freezing, i.e., cessation of any kind of activity. In playback trials, incidental vibrations alone emitted by spiders’ foraging triggered a freezing response in 63% of the tested spittlebugs; the duration of the freezing was approximately half of the duration of the behavior in response to the spider. Freezing was significantly more frequent in response to spider-foraging vibration (63%) than to the white noise and the leafhopper-emitted vibration (both 10%); no freezing was observed in the silent control. Overall, our findings suggest that substrate-borne vibrations are an important component of predation-risk assessment in P. spumarius. However, the perception and the response to a threat are likely multimodal processes mediated by the integration of vibrations with chemical and visual cues. Our results pave the way for the development of a behavioral disruption strategy against spittlebugs and X. fastidiosa transmission based on natural enemies-derived substrate-borne vibrations
Antioxidant Activity and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Blood Orange By-Products in Treated HT-29 and Caco-2 Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines
No full textBlood orange peel flour (BO-pf)—a by-product of the citrus supply chain—still contains bioactive molecules with known health benefits, such as antiradical scavenging activity or an antiproliferative activity regarding tumors. In vitro studies have demonstrated that orange polyphenols showed potential involvement in necroptosis. In addition to previous research, we tested BO-pf on two colorectal cancer cell lines. Using HT29 and Caco2 cells, our experiments confirmed the regulation of inflammasome expression. They provided valuable insights into how BO-pf influences the cancer cell features (i.e., viability, proliferation, and pro- and anti-inflammatory activity). Notably, BO-pf extract is a rich source of polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. Western blot and real-time PCR analyses showed that treatment with BO-pf extract demonstrated beneficial effects by influencing the expression of both pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6) through the modulation of the TLR4/NF-kB/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling. Moreover, the results of this study demonstrate that BO-pf extracts can enhance the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-10 and TGFβ, suggesting that BO-pf extracts may represent a promising functional ingredient to counteract the intestinal inflammatory responses involved in IBD
Mente
No full textl Dizionario dell’italiano L2 intende fornire a tutte le persone che si occupano (o aspirano a occuparsi) professionalmente dell’insegnamento/apprendimento dell’italiano come L2 – cioè come lingua appresa in un momento successivo alla lingua materna (L1) – un bagaglio di nozioni fondamentali necessario per potersi orientare sia nella pratica didattica che nella ricerca scientifica
Evaluating the Progress of the EU Countries Towards Implementation of the European Green Deal: A Multiple Criteria Approach
Get PDFThe European Green Deal (EGD) is a package of policy initiatives launched by the European Commission in December 2019, which aims to set the European Union (EU) on the path to a green transition with the final goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The package includes interlinked initiatives covering the climate, the environment, energy, transport, industry, agriculture, and sustainable finance. It is thus evident that holistic and scientifically sound decision support systems are crucial to help EU policymakers and stakeholders in monitoring the progress of countries towards the implementation of the EGD. Indeed, the multidimensionality of this policy initiative lends itself well to its integration into a Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) approach to the identification of priorities for action. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the progress of the EU countries towards the implementation of the European Green Deal, using MCDA. The PROMETHEE II method was applied to the data for EU countries, using 26 key indicators collected from the Eurostat database and organized into three thematic clusters. The results enabled us to calculate overall scores measuring the degree of implementation of the EGD by the EU countries, and their profiles with respect to the key indicators and thematic clusters. By analyzing these profiles, strengths and weaknesses were identified. Thus, the fundamental novelty of this research consists of the first concrete application of a holistic and ‘ready-to-use’ decision-making tool that can be adopted by EU policymakers and stakeholders to draw up a roadmap towards climate neutrality
Acute kidney injury and aorta-related mortality during open surgery of the abdominal aorta with suprarenal clamping using different renal protection strategies
Get PDFOBJECTIVES: The aim was to evaluate the incidence of acute kidney injury in patients treated with open surgical repair and suprarenal cross-clamp comparing no-perfusion strategy versus the renal perfusion with the histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution. METHODS: It is a physician-initiated, multicentre, retrospective observational study including patients treated with open surgical repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2021. Patients already on dialysis were excluded from the final analysis. A coarsened exact match identified 2 cohorts: no-perfusion strategy versus renal perfusion with the histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution. Primary outcomes were acute kidney injury incidence and survival at 30 day. Secondary outcomes were freedom from haemodialysis and survival at 1 year. RESULTS: We analysed 125 (28.7%) patients: 63 (14.5%) who did not receive renal perfusion and 62 (14.2%) who received the histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate perfusion. At 30 day, acute kidney injury rate (37.6%) was not different between the 2 groups [n = 24 (38.7%) vs 23 (36.5%); OR: 1.1, P = 0.855]. At 30 day, acute kidney injury development was associated with aneurysm extent (pararenal, OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.031-5.031, P = 0.042) and total time of intervention (threshold: 365 min, OR: 1.008, 95% CI: 1.003-1.012, P = 0.001). At 1 year, postoperative acute kidney injury did not impact mortality (OR: 3.4, P = 0.556), and freedom from haemodialysis was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative acute kidney injury remains high at nearly 38%, but it did not impact on freedom from haemodialysis at 1 year as well as on overall survival
Cost analysis and resource allocation in the management of benign thyroid nodules: a comparison of surgery and thermal ablation techniques
Get PDFIntroduction: Benign thyroid nodules are common in adults, with incidental detection rates reaching 50–60% in women. While most nodules are asymptomatic and require no treatment, some grow and cause compressive symptoms. Objective: This study evaluates the economic impact of various treatment modalities for benign thyroid nodules within the Italian healthcare system, comparing total thyroidectomy, hemithyroidectomy, and minimally invasive thermal ablation. The analysis considers both direct healthcare costs and indirect social costs, such as productivity losses, from the perspective of the Italian National Health Service. Methods: A literature review and clinician survey were conducted to collect cost data across treatment phases: pre-hospitalization, procedure, and post-operative care. An Activity-Based Costing approach was used to estimate full treatment costs, including medical expenses, staff involvement, material usage, and indirect costs related to work absences. Results: The findings indicate that total thyroidectomy has the highest overall cost (€ 5,185.36), followed by hemithyroidectomy (€ 4,211.92), and thermal ablation (€ 1,560.06). The analysis also highlighted significant cost savings associated with thermal ablation when compared to surgical options, especially in terms of reduced hospital stay and lower indirect costs. Nevertheless, surgical procedures remain the mainstay treatment due to long-term efficacy and well-established clinical guidelines. Conclusion: Thermal ablation represents a cost-effective alternative to surgery for managing benign thyroid nodules. Treatment selection should be individualized, considering clinical factors, patient preferences, and long-term outcomes. These results underscore the importance of updating management guidelines to incorporate economic considerations, promoting optimized care and efficient resource allocation in the healthcare context
Les marqueurs introduisant un «ailleurs» discursif dans les publications de l’UE grand public, pour adolescents et pour enfants
No full textCette recherche porte sur certains marqueurs parenthétiques de reprise interprétative (Murât / Cartier-Bresson 1987; Vassiliadou 2008; Gomez-Jordana / Anscombre 2015) introduisant une réflexion sur le dire et le dit:
c’est-à-dire, autrement dit, à savoir, en d’autres termes, soit, ou. Afin de
vérifier leur rôle en co(n)texte, nous analyserons trois publications / brochures de l’UE, adressées au grand public, aux adolescents et aux enfants,
respectivement. Après avoir relevé la fréquence de ces outils, nous nous
pencherons sur leur portée syntaxique et sémantico-pragmatique en nous
appuyant sur la nature morphologique des segments A et B et sur leur relation sémantique par le biais des outils susmentionnés. Nous examinerons
en particulier l’équivalence et la caractérisation, qui permettent aux sujets
auteurs des trois ouvrages de définir, d’expliquer, de préciser ou de simplifier des contenus spécialisés à leurs destinataires, d’où leur reformulation
et paraphrase. Nous nous intéresserons ainsi à la distinction entre langage
ordinaire et terminologie technique (domaine juridique) en comparant la
manière dont les mêmes sujets sont abordés en vue d’atteindre des publics différents, alternant la terminologie juridique de l’UE et les mots et expressions d’emploi commun correspondants
Comparison of Rescue Approach with Gore-Tex Suture Scleral Fixation and Lens Explantation Combined with Standardized Flanged Intrascleral Fixation
No full textIntroduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of fixing dislocated intraocular lenses (IOLs) with Gore-Tex suture scleral fixation, compared to IOL explantation combined with a secondary implant using a standardized flanged intrascleral fixation (Yamane technique). Methods: The study included patients that underwent rescue of a dislocated single-piece, four-eyelet acrylic IOL, fixated to the sclera with Gore-Tex sutures (group A), or IOL explantation followed by three-piece IOL implant using the Yamane technique (group B). Primary outcomes: uncorrected and best corrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA and BCDVA), refractive target, corneal cylinder (CC), endothelial cell loss (ECL), and postoperative complications. Results: Thirty-four eyes (group A, 16; group B, 18) of 34 consecutive patients were included. Overall mean follow-up was 11.4 ± 2.2 months. In both groups, UCDVA and BCDVA significantly improved (p < 0.001) at last visit. Final refractive target and CC were not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.62). ECL was significantly greater (p = 0.001) in group B (14.7%; −306 ± 11 cells/mm2) than in A (5.1%; −105.6 ± 12 cells/mm2). Conclusions: The rescue approach with Gore-Tex suture scleral fixation was similar to IOL explantation combined with Yamane technique regarding functional and refractive outcomes. A lesser degree of ECL occurred after the rescue approach