988 research outputs found
The UN-SUSTAINABLE Match in HCV Recipients. Evidences from the Italian D-MELD Study on Balancing Donor-Recipient Risk Factors
No full textThe UN-SUSTAINABLE Match in HCV Recipients. Evidences from the Italian D-MELD Study on Balancing Donor-Recipient Risk Factor
The Natural and Un-Natural History of Patients with Scimitar Syndrome: An Italian Multicentric Study
No full textAntifungal susceptibility profiles of Candida isolates from a prospective survey of invasive fungal infections in Italian intensive care units
No full textThe antifungal susceptibility pattern of 302 Candida isolates collected during an Italian survey on invasive fungal infections in an intensive care setting was investigated. The results were correlated with some epidemiological data and compared with the antifungal profiles obtained in a previous survey. No resistance to echinocandins was detected. The overall resistance levels to fluconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole were 12.6, 6.0 and 7.1 %, respectively. Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis accounted for more than half of all the fluconazole resistant isolates. Reduced susceptibility to fluconazole is not uncommon among isolates (12.3 %) and appears to be increasing, particularly among C. parapsilosis isolates, which showed an increase in resistant isolates from 2 % in the 1990s to 25.8 % in the present study. Routine antifungal susceptibility testing of this species is therefore recommended
Center-Related Determinants of VKA Anticoagulation Quality: A Prospective, Multicenter Evaluation
No full textBackground: Center-specific TTR (c-TTR) is a measure reporting the mean patient TTR within an anticoagulation clinic describing the quality of anticoagulant monitoring offered by that clinic. c-TTR has a considerable between-center variation, but its determinants are poorly understood. Objectives: We aimed at evaluating which clinical, procedural or laboratory factors could be associated with c-TTR variability in a multicenter, observational cross-sectional study over a five-year period. Patients/Methods: Data from 832,204 individual patients followed for VKA therapy in 292 Centers affiliated with the Italian Federation of Anticoagulation Clinics (FCSA) were analyzed. c-TTR was computed based on the TTR of patients followed at each Center, and a mixed linear regression model was used for a predefined set of explanatory variables. Results: The Center next-visit interval ratio (the mean number of days after a visit with an INR outside the therapeutic range, divided by the days after a visit with an INR within the therapeutic range), the Center mean patient INR and the Center laboratory performance at EQA proficiency testing were the only variables that were independently associated with c-TTR (β- coefficients -17.32, 9.67, and -0.11, respectively; r2 = 0.635). Conclusions: These findings suggest that c-TTR associates with proactive strategies aimed at keeping patients very close to their target INR with a prompt re-evaluation of those patients with under- or over-therapeutic INR. © 2015 Tosetto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Interest Groups, Government Spending and Italian Industrial Growth (1876-1913)
No full textIn the last two decades of the XIX century the Italian model of economic growth shifted from agricultural to industrial. Historians maintain that this process was affected by the action of some interest groups that pursued both state protection from competition and specific public expenditure programs. Starting from the economic literature of interest groups, this paper attempts to empirically investigate the role of the interest groups in public expenditure decisions in Italy from 1876 to 1913. We argue that a proper indicator of the role of interest groups is their output. The analysis suggests that government spending was sensitive to the preferences of heavy industry rather then those of textile and cereal cultivators. We therefore highlight the role of the political process in setting economic policy at the early stages of the Italian development.industrialization; special interests groups; public expenditure, Italian economic history.
NPHP1 gene deletion is a rare cause of Joubert sindrome related disorders
No full textJoubert syndrome (JS) is a neurological disorder
characterised by a complex cerebellar and brainstem
malformation, the so called ‘‘molar tooth sign’’ (MTS).
JS can be associated with several abnormalities in
other organs, identifying a large spectrum of ‘‘Joubert
syndrome related disorders’’ (JSRD). Isolated nephronophthisis
(NPH) is an autosomal recessive tubulointerstitial
medullary cystic kidney disease, which can be
found in some JSRD. Among the four genes responsible
for isolated NPH (NPHP1–4), NPHP1 deletions have
been found in two families with JS plus NPH.
N We tested 40 JSRD probands with proven MTS for
NPHP1 deletions. Homozygous deletions were tested
by performing two multiplex PCR with two microsatellite
markers (one control marker and one internal
deletion marker) resolved on agarose gel. Five markers
within the common NPHP1 deletion region were
genotyped to test heterozygous deletions.
N A single NPHP1 homozygous deletion was found in a
patient presenting with cerebellar, retinal, and kidney
involvement, while heterozygous deletions were
excluded in the others. The appearance of MTS in the
patient with NPHP1 deletion was characteristic with
moderate cerebellar vermis hypoplasia and elongated
but not thickened superior cerebellar peduncles.
N We confirm that NPHP1 deletions can be a rare cause
of JSRD and broaden the NPHP1 associated clinical
spectrum. In all NPHP1 JSRD patients so far reported,
the MTS shows remarkably similar features, which
might be specifically associated with NPHP1 deletions
Sense of Origins. A Study of New York's Young Italian Americans
No full textIn Sense of Origins, the author explores the lives of a significant group of self-identified young Italian Americans residing in New York City and its surrounding areas. The book presents and examines the results of a survey she conducted of their values, family relationships, prejudices and stereotypes, affiliations, attitudes and behaviors, and future perspectives of Italian American culture. The core of the study focuses on self-identification with Italian cultural heritage and analyzes it according to five aspects—physical, personality, cultural, psychological, and emotional/affective.
The data provides insights into today’s young Italian Americans and the ways their perception of reality in everyday interactions is affected by their heritage, while shedding light on the value and symbolic references that come with an Italian heritage. Through her rendering of relevant facets that emerge from the study, the author constructs interpretative models useful for outlining the physiognomy and characterization of second, third, fourth, and fifth generations of Italian Americans. In the current climate, questions of ethnicity and migrant identity around the world make Sense of Origins useful not only to the Italian American community but also to the descendants of the innumerable present-day migrants who find themselves living in countries different from those of their ancestors. The book will resonate in future explorations of ethnic identity in the United States
A political-economic geography of Italian regionalism: the northern league (Lega Nord), 1984-96
No full textThis thesis contributes to the debates surrounding the resurgence of regionalism in contemporary Europe by examining the situation in Italy. The main theoretical perspectives of regionalism are examined as well as the historical development of the Italian national-state and the significant transformations it has undergone in recent years. The main focus of the study is the Northern League (Lega Nord) (LN) regionalist political party, which has risen to political prominence in Italian politics over the last ten years. The LN's claims for greater regional autonomy and its attempts to invent an identity for the North of Italy, or 'Padania' (as the LN calls it) have brought to the fore questions about the future structure of governance in Italy. The LN's claims for the secession of 'Padania' are a direct challenge to Italian national unity and identity. The LN claims to be the party of the North of Italy (or 'Padania') but its electoral support is not uniform across the whole of the territory. The thesis explores how and why the party's level of electoral support varies geographically, which involves examining the historical and electoral development of the LN; its organisational structures; how the party communicates its political rhetoric; and how the party’s discourses have evolved over time. The LN is analysed in three case-study areas within Northern and Central Italy in order to understand how different geographical contexts help or hinder the success of the party. The first case study area is the province of Varese, which is symbolically important for the LN and where the party is electorally strong; the second area is the autonomous province of Trentino where the LN is confronted with a distinct set of institutional and political structures; and the third is the province of Macerata in Central Italy where the LN is electorally weak
The Italian Chamber of Lords Sits on Listed Company Boards: An Empirical Analysis of Italian Listed Company Boards from 1998 to 2006
No full textThe purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of directors. Such group of interlocking (overwhelmingly male) directors shows a remarkable stability over time with very few entrants and very few exits mainly related to the passing away of the director. We define them for brevity the Lords of the Italian stockmarket. Lords tend to belong to families of directors, with the first five families having more than 100 directorships in nine years. The highest level of connectivity concerns those companies that belong to the MIB 30/S&P-MIB 40 index, the Italian Blue Chips. In particular, practically all the financial Blue Chips are connected with each other through a web of directors continuously from 1998 to 2006. The extent, depth, and stability of the connections among the Italian listed companies, and in particular the main Italian financial companies, raise doubts on the extent of their competitive behaviour.corporate governance, interlocking directorships, board turnover, antitrust, competition, social network analysis (SNA), exploratory data analysis (EDA), empirical corporate finance
Early and Differential Diagnosis of Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment Design and Cohort Baseline Characteristics of the German Dementia Competence Network
No full textBackground: The German Dementia Competence Network (DCN) has established procedures for standardized multicenter acquisition of clinical, biological and imaging data, for centralized data management, and for the evaluation of new treatments. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was set up for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), patients with mild dementia and control subjects. The aims were to establish the diagnostic, differential diagnostic and prognostic power of a range of clinical, laboratory and imaging methods. Furthermore, 2 clinical trials were conducted with patients suffering from MCI and mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD). These trials aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of the combination of galantamine and memantine versus galantamine alone. Results: Here, we report on the scope and projects of the DCN, the methods that were employed, the composition and flow within the diverse groups of patients and control persons and on the clinical and neuropsychological baseline characteristics of the group of 2,113 subjects who participated in the observational and clinical trials. Conclusion: These data have an impact on the procedures for the early and differential clinical diagnosis of dementias, the current standard treatment of AD as well as on future clinical trials in AD. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
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