1,721,175 research outputs found
COVID-19: L'attesa Pandemia Zoonotica del terzo Millennio. Attualità e prospettive
No full textÈ passato più di un anno da quando il nuovo coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsabile della COVID-19 è entrato prepotentemente e con fulminea rapidità nelle nostre vite causando lutti e devastazioni economiche. Un virus venuto dalla Cina che l’effetto Spillover (meccanismo biologico legato alla promiscuità animale-uomo e alle attività antropiche), ha messo in grado di ʻtracimare’ da una specie animale a quella umana e che in poco tempo, in ondate sequenziali, ha causato un’epidemia incontrollata e planetaria che a tutt’oggi ha provocato 219 milioni di casi in tutto il mondo e 4.55 milioni di decessi e l’Italia è ai primi posti con 4.61 milioni di casi e 130.000 decessi in soli 18 mesi. Uno scenario apocalittico dunque, causato da una malattia assai con- tagiosa ma con letalità inferiore a quella della SARS, che vede governi ed esperti di tutte le discipline mediche impegnati a fronteggiare un nemico comune che continua a far migliaia di vittime in tutto il mondo.
COVID-19 è una malattia che causa nella maggior parte delle persone con età < 50 anni sintomi lievi o moderati che generalmente guariscono senza necessità di particolari cure. Ci sono però categorie di persone, tra cui gli over 80, i pazienti co- morbidi e i fragili, in cui il virus riesce facilmente ad arginare le difese immunitarie, causando una malattia grave che spesso è mortale.
Oltre alla rievocazione storica delle principali tappe della pandemia sin dalla sua comparsa, sono stati presi in esame gli aspetti epidemiologici, etiopatogenetici, clinici, terapeutici e profilattici dell’infezione da SARS-CoV-2. Sebbene ancora non ci siano dei farmaci specifici ad eccezione degli anticorpi monoclonali, esiste un vaccino, anzi più vaccini che per la prima volta, nella storia delle malattie infettive altamente diffusive che hanno flagellato l’umanità, è stato ʻfabbricato’ in appena un anno.
Gli effetti positivi della campagna vaccinale si stanno registrando da più parti nel mondo, ma la scomparsa di questa nuova infezione è ancora lungi dall’essere una realtà, essendo anche minacciata dalla presenza delle numerose varianti virali che potrebbero inficiare l’efficacia del vaccino soprattutto quando SARS-CoV-2 incontra fasce della popolazione non ancora immunizzate
Infezioni in Situazioni Particolari
No full textConsiderata la sempre più frequente osservazione di malattie esotiche, il medico che si trova di fronte a un viaggiatore rientrato da un paese tropicale, è spesso confrontato con patologie e problemi clinici di cui spesso non
ha esperienza diagnostica e terapeutica, per le scarse conoscenze inerenti l’epidemiologia geografica e le principali modalità di presentazione di malattie tropicali/infettive in relazione all’area visitata. Non va inoltre dimenticato,
che alcune di queste che si rendono evidenti al rientro da un viaggio, possono non riconoscere un’ origine infettiva.
In generale, i viaggiatori possono contrar-
re, a seconda della zona visitata e della tipologia del viaggio, malattie infettive e/o tropicali con differenti modalità: a. vettoriale, mediante zanzare del genere Aedes (malaria, WNV, leishmaniosi, ZIKV, Dengue, Chikugunya, en-
cefalite giapponese, febbre emorragica di Crimea Congo, ecc.), o mediante mosche o cimici ematofaghe presenti in alcuni paesi Africani o del Sud America, (tripanosomiasi africana o americana, ecc.); b. contatto oro-fecale (febbre tifoide, diarrea del viaggiatore, epatite virale A ed E, ecc.); c. contatto con animali (leptospiosi, tularemia, rickettsiosi, brucellosi, rabbia,
febbre Q, istoplasmosi, febbre di Lassa, ecc.); d. animale e interumano (febbre di Marburg, Lassa, EVD, ecc.); e. per via sessuale (HIV, HBV, sifilide, gonorrea, linfogranuloma venereo, papillomavirus, cancroide, ecc.)
Parasites and the Nervous System: Diagnostic Approaches and Possible Therapeutic Strategies in the Human Setting
No full textParasites and the Nervous System: Diagnostic Approaches and
Possible Therapeutic Strategies in the Human Setting
Contini - Infectious Diseases, Ferrara, Italy
Keywords: brain malaria, Cisticercosis and hydatidosis, Amebiasis.
Invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) is a devastating complication of a parasitic infection. Al- though the most common route of CNS invasion is done through the blood and between the blood and the brain parenchyma, (blood brain barrier - bbb), the portal entry is also provided by the skin and ep- ithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract or by the olfactory neuroepithelium of the nasal mucosa. Neu- ropathologic changes depend on the type and size and virulence of the parasite, geographic parasitic strain variations and immune evasion by the parasite. Some infections may present as an expanding mass lesion. brain parasites (bP) can cause symptomatic disease or run asymptomatically. The most common parasitic infection of the CNS is cerebral malaria (CM) followed by neurocysticercosis (NC). Other relatively common infections include toxoplasmosis, cystic and alveolar echinococcosis and schis- tosomiasis. Rarer bP include entamoeba histolytica, free-living amoebae including Naegleria fowleri (NF) and Cryptosporidium spp. This presentation addresses some of the most important bP including CM, NC, Hydatidosis, NF. According to the Malaria Report for 2017, CM accounts for 90% of the deaths. In Europe/USA it is mainly related to travel to tropical areas and increased migration flows. The brain in patients with CM is increased from sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes. Diagnosis consists in microscopy, mRDT, and advanced PCR. Currently, the best available treatment, particularly for p. fal- ciparum malaria, is artemisinin derivative combination therapy (ACT). Experimental drugs including those to prevent bbb dysfunction yet will be discussed. NC is the most common helminthic infection of the CNS and a major cause of acquired epilepsy in resource-limited countries. Imported cases are in- creasing in Europe. NC diagnosed by neuroimaging which is supported by immunodiagnostic tests (western blot test with purified parasite antigens). Management of NC requires a multidisciplinary ap- proach that includes drugs to control symptoms, anti-inflammatories, anti- antiepileptics, antiparasitic treatment and sometimes surgery.
Hydatic cyst (HC) is a zoonotic infection caused by e. granulosus widely endemic in regions where live- stock farming is prevalent. brain involvement is seen in only 1-2% of HC cases. 80% of patients with cerebral HC are in the pediatric age group. HC is usually diagnosed by clinical findings, serological (often false negative) and imaging methods which may give better results. NF is an amoeba commonly found in warm freshwater environments such as lakes, hot springs and poorly chlorinated swimming pools especially in United States. Commonly known as brain-eating amoeba, has mortality rate of > 90%; treatment remains problematic with common drugs such as azoles, amphotericin b and miltefo- sine. Modifying existing drugs using nanotechnology offers promise in the development of therapeutic interventions against these parasitic infections
Multi-actor approaches to implement cooperative strategies and value chains based on sustainability
No full textThis special issue of Agricultural and Food Economics consists of four articles that were part of the scientific programme of the First SIDEA-SIEA Joint Conference, held in Bisceglie in September 2017. The conference afforded agricultural economists the opportunity to reflect on cooperative strategies to promote competitiveness of the agri-food supply chain, with a focus on environmental quality and social sustainability. The selected articles address these themes from different perspectives: those of firms, of consumers, and of policy makers, stressing that sustainability calls for the active participation of all of the actors. The case studies presented propose an effective interpretation of the strategies for value creation with respect to the challenges of climate change, food waste management, the development of marginal rural areas, and that of the fish sector
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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