14 research outputs found
Gut Microbiota Features in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. [*Coretti L. corresponding author]
No full textProliferation and/or depletion of clusters of specific bacteria regulate intestinal functions and may interfere with neuro-immune communication and behavior in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Consistently, qualitative and quantitative alteration of bacterial metabolites may functionally affect ASD pathophysiology. Up to date, age-restricted cohort studies, that may potentially help to identify specific microbial signatures in ASD, are lacking. We investigated the gut microbiota (GM) structure and fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels in a cohort of young children (2-4 years of age) with ASD, with respect to age-matched neurotypical healthy controls. Strong increase of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria and decrease of Actinobacteria was observed in these patients. Among the 91 OTUs whose relative abundance was altered in ASD patients, we observed a striking depletion of Bifidobacterium longum, one of the dominant bacteria in infant GM and, conversely, an increase of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a late colonizer of healthy human gut and a major butyrate producer. High levels of F. prausnitzii were associated to increase of fecal butyrate levels within normal range, and over representation of KEGG functions related to butyrate production in ASD patients. Here we report unbalance of GM structure with a shift in colonization by gut beneficial bacterial species in ASD patients as off early childhood
Investigating the generalizability of Economic Evaluations conducted in Italy: a critical review
No full textbstract: Aim. To assess the methodological quality of Italian HEEs and their generalizability or
transferability to different settings.
Methods. A literature search was performed on Pubmed search engine to identify trial-based, non-
experimental prospective studies or model-based full economic evaluations, carried out in Italy from
1995 to 2013. The studies were randomly assigned to four reviewers who applied a detailed checklist
to assess the generalizability and the quality of reporting. The review process followed a three-step
blinded procedure. The reviewers who carried out the data extraction were blind as to the name of the
author(s) of each study. Second, after the first review, articles were re-assigned through a second blind
randomization to a second reviewer. Finally, any disagreement between the first two reviews was
solved by a senior researcher.
Results. One-hundred fifty-one economic evaluations eventually met the inclusion criteria. Over time,
we observed an increasing transparency of methods and a greater generalizability of results, along
with a wider and more representative sample in trials and a larger adoption of transition-Markov
models. On the other hand, often context-specific economic evaluations are carried out and not enough
effort is done to assure the transferability of their results to other contexts. In recent studies, Cost-
Effectiveness Analyses and the use of the Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio were preferred.
Conclusion. Despite a quite positive temporal trend, generalizability of results still appears as an
unsolved question, even if some indication of improvement within Italian studies has been observe
Investigating the Generalizability of Economic Evaluations Conducted in Italy: A Critical Review
No full textObjectives To assess the methodological quality of Italian health economic evaluations and their generalizability or transferability to different settings. Methods A literature search was performed on the PubMed search engine to identify trial-based, nonexperimental prospective studies or model-based full economic evaluations carried out in Italy from 1995 to 2013. The studies were randomly assigned to four reviewers who applied a detailed checklist to assess the generalizability and quality of reporting. The review process followed a three-step blinded procedure. The reviewers who carried out the data extraction were blind as to the name of the author(s) of each study. Second, after the first review, articles were reassigned through a second blind randomization to a second reviewer. Finally, any disagreement between the first two reviewers was solved by a senior researcher. Results One hundred fifty-one economic evaluations eventually met the inclusion criteria. Over time, we observed an increasing transparency in methods and a greater generalizability of results, along with a wider and more representative sample in trials and a larger adoption of transition-Markov models. However, often context-specific economic evaluations are carried out and not enough effort is made to ensure the transferability of their results to other contexts. In recent studies, cost-effectiveness analyses and the use of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio were preferred. Conclusions Despite a quite positive temporal trend, generalizability of results still appears as an unsolved question, even if some indication of improvement within Italian studies has been observed
Epidemiology of invasive fungal infections in the intensive care unit: results of a multicenter Italian survey (AURORA Project).
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Purpose: The aims of this study are to evaluate the epidemiology of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Southern Italy and the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of isolates. Methods: A surveillance program was implemented in 18 ICUs. IFI cases were recorded using a standardized form. Results: A total of 105 episodes of IFIs occurred in 5,561 patients during the 18-month study. The main infections were caused by yeasts, more than filamentous fungi (overall incidence of 16.5 cases per 1,000 admissions and 2.3 cases per 1,000 admissions, respectively). The overall crude mortality rate was high (42.8 %), particularly for mold infections (61.5 %). All yeast infections were Candida bloodstream infections. Over half (59.8 %) were caused by Candida non-albicans, with C. parapsilosis being the most common (61.8 %). In the multivariate model, trauma admission diagnosis, prolonged stay in the ICU, and parenteral nutrition were independently associated with candidemia due to C. parapsilosis [odds ratio (OR) 3.5, (1.8-5.2); OR 3.5, (1.02-3.5); OR 3.6, (1.28-6.99), respectively]. Among mold infections, 12 patients suffered from invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, with Aspergillus fumigatus as the predominant pathogen (41.7 %). One case of brain scedosporiosis was identified. Overall, azoles and echinocandins resistance was uncommon. Conclusions: Candida non-albicans species are the most frequent cause of candidemia in ICU patients. Mold infections are associated with a high mortality rate. This study confirms the importance of the epidemiological surveillance on IFIs in the ICU setting for documenting species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns to guide therapeutic choices. © 2013 The Author(s)
Improving the Laboratory Diagnosis of M-like Variants Related to Alpha1-Antitrypsin Deficiency
No full textAlpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a serine protease inhibitor that is encoded by the highly polymorphic SERPINA1 gene. Mutations in this gene can lead to AAT deficiency (AATD), which is associated with an increased risk of lung and/or liver disease. On the basis of electrophoretic migration, AAT variants are named with capital letters; M (medium) signifies the normal protein. Among pathological variants, the M-like ones represent a heterogeneous group of rare allelic variants that exhibit the same electrophoretic pattern as the M wild-type protein, which makes them difficult to detect with routine methods. In order to avoid their misdiagnosis, the present study defines and validates effective methods for the detection of two pathogenic M-like variants, Mwurzburg and Mwhitstable. Comparison of protein phenotypes using isoelectric focusing of samples that presented the Mwurzburg variant, as revealed by exons 5 sequencing, identified a particular electrophoretic pattern amenable to the Mwurzburg protein. The specific phenotyping pattern was retrospectively validated, thus enabling the detection of 16 patients with Mwurzburg variant among the subjects already tested but not sequenced according to our diagnostic algorithm. The Mwhitstable allele was detected by intron 4 sequencing of SERPINA1 gene. Mwurzburg and Mwhitstable are often misdiagnosed and the introduction of diagnostic improvements can help the clinical management, especially in patients with established lung disease without any other reported risk factors
ANDES, the high resolution spectrograph for the ELT: science goals, project overview and future developments
No full textMarconi, A. et al.-- Full list of authors: Marconi, A.; Abreu, M.; Adibekyan, V.; Alberti, V.; Albrecht, S.; Alcaniz, J.; Aliverti, M.; Allende Prieto, C.; Alvarado-Gomez, J. D.; Alves, C. S.; Amado, P. J.; Amate, M.; Andersen, M. I.; Antoniucci, S.; Artigau, E.; Bailet, C.; Baker, C.; Baldini, V.; Balestra, A.; Barnes, S. A.; Baron, F.; Barros, S. C. C.; Bauer, S. M.; Beaulieu, M.; Bellido-Tirado, O.; Benneke, B.; Bensby, T.; Bergin, E. A.; Berio, P.; Biazzo, K.; Bigot, L.; Bik, A.; Birkby, J. L.; Blind, N.; Boebion, O.; Boisse, I.; Bolmont, E.; Bolton, J. S.; Bonaglia, M.; Bonfils, X.; Bonhomme, L.; Borsa, F.; Bouret, J. -C.; Brandeker, A.; Brandner, W.; Broeg, C. H.; Brogi, M.; Brousseau, D.; Brucalassi, A.; Brynnel, J.; Buchhave, L. A.; Buscher, D. F.; Cabona, L.; Cabral, A.; Calderone, G.; Calvo-Ortega, R.; Cantalloube, F.; Canto Martins, B. L.; Carbonaro, L.; Caujolle, Y.; Chauvin, G.; Chazelas, B.; Cheffot, A. -L.; Cheng, Y. S.; Chiavassa, A.; Christensen, L.; Cirami, R.; Cirasuolo, M.; Cook, N. J.; Cooke, R. J.; Coretti, I.; Covino, S.; Cowan, N.; Cresci, G.; Cristiani, S.; Cunha Parro, V.; Cupani, G.; D'Odorico, V.; Dadi, K.; de Castro Leão, I.; De Cia, A.; De Medeiros, J. R.; Debras, F.; Debus, M.; Delorme, A.; Demangeon, O.; Derie, F.; Dessauges-Zavadsky, M.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Di Stefano, S.; Dionies, F.; Domiciano de Souza, A.; Doyon, R.; Dunn, J.; Egner, S.; Ehrenreich, D.; Faria, J. P.; Ferruzzi, D.; Feruglio, C.; Fisher, M.; Fontana, A.; Frank, B. S.; Fuesslein, C.; Fumagalli, M.; Fusco, T.; Fynbo, J.; Gabella, O.; Gaessler, W.; Gallo, E.; Gao, X.; Genolet, L.; Genoni, M.; Giacobbe, P.; Giro, E.; Gonçalves, R. S.; Gonzalez, O. A.; González-Hernández, J. I.; Gouvret, C.; Gracia Témich, F.; Haehnelt, M. G.; Haniff, C.; Hatzes, A.; Helled, R.; Hoeijmakers, H. J.; Hughes, I.; Huke, P.; Ivanisenko, Y.; Järvinen, A. S.; Järvinen, S. P.; Kaminski, A.; Kern, J.; Knoche, J.; Kordt, A.; Korhonen, H.; Korn, A. J.; Kouach, D.; Kowzan, G.; Kreidberg, L.; Landoni, M.; Lanotte, A. A.; Lavail, A.; Lavie, B.; Lee, D.; Lehmitz, M.; Li, J.; Li, W.; Liske, J.; Lovis, C.; Lucatello, S.; Lunney, D.; MacIntosh, M. J.; Madhusudhan, N.; Magrini, L.; Maiolino, R.; Maldonado, J.; Malo, L.; Man, A. W. S.; Marquart, T.; Marques, C. M. J.; Marques, E. L.; Martinez, P.; Martins, A.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Martins, J. H. C.; Maslowski, P.; Mason, C.; Mason, E.; McCracken, R. A.; Melo e Sousa, M. A. F.; Mergo, P.; Micela, G.; Milaković, D.; Mollière, P.; Monteiro, M. A.; Montgomery, D.; Mordasini, C.; Morin, J.; Mucciarelli, A.; Murphy, M. T.; N'Diaye, M.; Nardetto, N.; Neichel, B.; Neri, N.; Niedzielski, A. T.; Niemczura, E.; Nisini, B.; Nortmann, L.; Noterdaeme, P.; Nunes, N. J.; Oggioni, L.; Olchewsky, F.; Oliva, E.; Önel, H.; Origlia, L.; Östlin, G.; Ouellette, N. N. -Q.; Pallé, E.; Papaderos, P.; Pariani, G.; Pasquini, L.; Peñate Castro, J.; Pepe, F.; Peroux, C.; Perreault Levasseur, L.; Perruchot, S.; Petit, P.; Pfuhl, O.; Pino, L.; Piqueras, J.; Piskunov, N.; Pollo, A.; Poppenhaeger, K.; Porru, M.; Puschnig, J.; Quirrenbach, A.; Rauscher, E.; Rebolo, R.; Redaelli, E. M. A.; Reffert, S.; Reid, D. T.; Reiners, A.; Richter, P.; Riva, M.; Rivoire, S.; Rodríguez-López, C.; Roederer, I. U.; Romano, D.; Roth, M.; Rousseau, S.; Rowe, J.; Saccardi, A.; Salvadori, S.; Sanna, N.; Santos, N. C.; Santos Diaz, P.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Sarajlic, M.; Sauvage, J. -F.; Savio, D.; Scaudo, A.; Schäfer, S.; Schiavon, R. P.; Schmidt, T. M.; Selmi, C.; Simoes, R.; Simonnin, A.; Sivanandam, S.; Sordet, M.; Sordo, R.; Sortino, F.; Sosnowska, D.; Sousa, S. G.; Spang, A.; Spiga, R.; Stempels, E.; Stevenson, J. R. Y.; Strassmeier, K. G.; Suárez Mascareño, A.; Sulich, A.; Sun, X.; Tanvir, N. R.; Tenegi-Sanginés, F.; Thibault, S.; Thompson, S. J.; Tisserand, P.; Tozzi, A.; Turbet, M.; Véran, J. -P.; Vallée, P.; Vanni, I.; Varas, R.; Vega-Moreno, A.; Venn, K. A.; Verma, A.; Vernet, J.; Viel, M.; Wade, G.; Waring, C.; Weber, M.; Weder, J.; Wehbé, B.; Weingrill, J.; Woche, M.; Xompero, M.; Zackrisson, E.; Zanutta, A.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Zechmeister, M.; Zimara, J.-- Part of the Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering Volume 1309 Article number 1309613 Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy X 2024 Yokohama 16 June 2024 through 21 June 2024 Code 202825.The first generation of ELT instruments includes an optical-infrared high resolution spectrograph, indicated as ELT-HIRES and recently christened ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph). ANDES consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs ([U]BV, RIZ, YJH) providing a spectral resolution of ∼100,000 with a minimum simultaneous wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 μm with the goal of extending it to 0.35-2.4 μm with the addition of an U arm to the BV spectrograph and a separate K band spectrograph. It operates both in seeing- and diffraction-limited conditions and the fibre-feeding allows several, interchangeable observing modes including a single conjugated adaptive optics module and a small diffraction-limited integral field unit in the NIR. Modularity and fibre-feeding allows ANDES to be placed partly on the ELT Nasmyth platform and partly in the Coudé room. ANDES has a wide range of groundbreaking science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Among the top science cases there are the detection of biosignatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars, tests on the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The ANDES project is carried forward by a large international consortium, composed of 35 Institutes from 13 countries, forming a team of almost 300 scientists and engineers which include the majority of the scientific and technical expertise in the field that can be found in ESO member states. © 2024 SPIEThe Italian effort for ANDES is supported by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF).
AIP received financial support by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF/DESY-PH:
05A23BAB)
The Portuguese team thanks the Portuguese Space Agency for the provision of financial support in the framework of the PRODEX Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) under contract number 4000143136
as well as from funds by the European Union (ERC, FIERCE, 101052347). Views and opinions expressed are
however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European
Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
This work further was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through national funds
and by FEDER through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização by
these grants: UIDB/04434/2020; UIDP/04434/2020. The ANDES project is partially funded through the SNSF
FLARE programme for large infrastructures under grants 20FL21_173604, 20FL20_186177 and 20FL20_216577 Swedish participation in the ANDES project is made possible through the national Swedish ELT Instrumentation Consortium (SELTIC), suppored by the Swedish Research Council (VR). CJM acknowledges FCT and
POCH/FSE (EC) support through Investigador FCT Contract 2021.01214.CEECIND/CP1658/CT0001 and
project 2022.04048.PTDC (Phi in the Sky, DOI 10.54499/2022.04048.PTDC) NCS acknowledges funding by the
European Union (ERC, FIERCE, 101052347). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s)
only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither
the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This work was supported
by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through national funds and by FEDER through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização by these grants: UIDB/04434/2020;
UIDP/04434/2020.
JLB acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon
2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 805445. MTM acknowledges the support of the
Australian Research Council through Future Fellowship grant FT180100194 SS acknowledges funding from the
European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
under grant agreement No 804240. TMS acknowledges support from the SNF synergia grant CRSII5-193689
(BLUVES). CAP, JIGH, RR, ASM, MA, FGT, JPC, FTS, AVM, and RS acknowledge financial support from
the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) project PID2020-117493GB-I00. PJA, CRL, RCO,
RV acknowledge financial support from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI/10.13039/501100011033) of
the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the ERDF “A way of making Europe” through projects PID2022-
137241NB-C43 and the Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” award to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
(CEX2021-001131-S). With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).Peer reviewe
Venous thromboembolism and COVID-19: a single center experience from an academic tertiary referral hospital of Northern Italy
Get PDFPreliminary evidence supports the notion that COVID-19 patients may have an increased susceptibility to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the magnitude of this association still needs to be defined. Furthermore, clinical predictors of thrombogenesis, and the relationship with the inflammatory status are currently unknown. On this basis, we conducted a retrospective, observational study on 259 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to an academic tertiary referral hospital in Northern Italy between March 19th and April 6th, 2020. Records of COVID-19 patients with a definite VTE event were reviewed for demographic information, co-morbidities, risk factors for VTE, laboratory tests, and anticoagulation treatment. Twenty-five cases among 259 COVID-19 patients developed VTE (9.6%), all of them having a Padua score > 4, although being under standard anticoagulation prophylaxis since hospital admission. In the VTE subcohort, we found a significant positive correlation between platelet count (PLT) and either C reactive protein (CRP) (p < 0.0001) or lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p = 0.0013), while a significant inverse correlation was observed between PLT and mean platelet volume (p < 0.0001). Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio significantly correlated with CRP (p < 0.0001). The majority of VTE patients was male and younger compared to non-VTE patients (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively). No significant difference was found in d-dimer levels between VTE and non VTE patients, while significantly higher levels of LDH (p = 0.04) and IL-6 (p = 0.04) were observed in VTE patients in comparison to non-VTE patients. In conclusion, our findings showed a quite high prevalence of VTE in COVID-19 patients. Raised inflammatory indexes and increased serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines should raise the clinical suspicion of VTE
Infected pancreatic necrosis: outcomes and clinical predictors of mortality. A post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study
No full text
