Smoking habits in a sample of young Italian soldiers

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the attitudes and characteristics of smoking patterns in a sample of 450 young, Italian, military men. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of military smokers was 54.4%; 45.7% of military men were smokers before enrollment, whereas 8.7% initiated smoking after enrollment. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the risk of becoming a smoker was associated with "high" cultural class of the family of origin (odds ratio [OR], 1.99; 95% confidence interval [CII, 1.05-4.23), non-nuclear family types (OR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.25-5.25), parent (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.04-2.90) and sibling/partner (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.45-3.50) smokers, and >12 months of service (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-5.43). None of the other variables relative to military status was significantly associated with smoking. Because the prevalence of military smokers was very high, we think that special programs aimed at decreasing the prevalence, with the long-term goal of smoking cessation, are needed.     

GDNF Selectively Induces Microglial Activation and Neuronal Survival in CA1/CA3 Hippocampal Regions Exposed to NMDA Insult through Ret/ERK Signalling

The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent survival factor for several neuronal populations in different brain regions, including the hippocampus. However, no information is available on the: (1) hippocampal subregions involved in the GDNF-neuroprotective actions upon excitotoxicity, (2) identity of GDNF-responsive hippocampal cells, (3) transduction pathways involved in the GDNF-mediated neuroprotection in the hippocampus. We addressed these questions in organotypic hippocampal slices exposed to GDNF in presence of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) by immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, and confocal analysis. In hippocampal slices GDNF acts through the activation of the tyrosine kinase receptor, Ret, without involving the NCAM-mediated pathway. Both Ret and ERK phosphorylation mainly occurred in the CA3 region where the two activated proteins co-localized. GDNF protected in a greater extent CA3 rather than CA1 following NMDA exposure. This neuroprotective effect targeted preferentially neurons, as assessed by NeuN staining. GDNF neuroprotection was associated with a significant increase of Ret phosphorylation in both CA3 and CA1. Interestingly, confocal images revealed that upon NMDA exposure, Ret activation occurred in microglial cells in the CA3 and CA1 following GDNF exposure. Collectively, this study shows that CA3 and CA1 hippocampal regions are highly responsive to GDNF-induced Ret activation and neuroprotection, and suggest that, upon excitotoxicity, such neuroprotection involves a GDNF modulation of microglial cell activity.     

Interactions Between Platelets and Leukocytes During Hemodialysis

The formation of platelet-leukocyte microaggregates has been observed in a variety of conditions. When platelets and leukocytes coaggregate, in general, a reciprocal activation occurs when both cells are activated, and the interactions between activated platelets and leukocytes may be relevant in both hemostasis and inflammatory processes. The study of platelet-leukocyte interactions in hemodialysis offers the novel aspect of cellular-cellular interaction as a new parameter for evaluating the biocompatibility of dialyzer membranes. This article reviews the investigations of the interactions between platelets and leukocytes during hemodialysis and the pathophysiologic implications which may stem from such interactions.     

Chikungunya Virus in North-Eastern Italy: A Seroprevalence Survey

After an outbreak of Chikungunya infection in Emilia-Romagna Region (North-eastern Italy), a survey was performed to estimate the seroprevalence of antibody to Chikungunya virus and the proportion of asymptomatic infections, to identify factors associated with infection, and evaluate the performance of the surveillance system. The method used was a survey on a random sample of residents of the village with the largest number of reported cases. The prevalence was 10.2% (33 of 325), being higher in older people and males, and lower when window screens and insect repellents were used. Only 18% of infected persons were fully asymptomatic, 85% of the 27 symptomatic confirmed cases satisfied the surveillance case definition, and 63% of the persons meeting the criteria for suspect case were identified by the active surveillance system. This study provides basic parameters for modeling the transmission potential of outbreaks and planning control measures for Chikungunya infection in temperate settings.     

Lumbar region reconstruction using bilateral reverse latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flaps after large basal cell carcinoma excision

The lumbosacral region often represents a difficult area for plastic surgeons to reconstruct. Reconstruction of this area with a standard free tissue transfer is not always possible, and locoregional flaps are often dismissed because of the poor quality and difficulty to mobilize. A case is presented that was reconstructed using bilateral distally based latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps after resection of a large malignant tumor located on the midline of the lumbosacral area. The resulting soft tissue defect was 24 × 23 × 5.5 cm. The bilateral flaps were raised in a reverse fashion and successfully transferred into the defect. After 1-year follow-up, the patient was well healed. We believe that this original technique is a noteworthy method and a valuable addition to the armamentarium of flaps.     

Collective dynamics of social annotation

The enormous increase of popularity and use of the worldwide web has led in the recent years to important changes in the ways people communicate. An interesting example of this fact is provided by the now very popular social annotation systems, through which users annotate resources (such as web pages or digital photographs) with keywords known as “tags.” Understanding the rich emergent structures resulting from the uncoordinated actions of users calls for an interdisciplinary effort. In particular concepts borrowed from statistical physics, such as random walks (RWs), and complex networks theory, can effectively contribute to the mathematical modeling of social annotation systems. Here, we show that the process of social annotation can be seen as a collective but uncoordinated exploration of an underlying semantic space, pictured as a graph, through a series of RWs. This modeling framework reproduces several aspects, thus far unexplained, of social annotation, among which are the peculiar growth of the size of the vocabulary used by the community and its complex network structure that represents an externalization of semantic structures grounded in cognition and that are typically hard to access.     

Aortic Valve Sclerosis in Patients with Peripheral and/or Coronary Arterial Disease

Background: Aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) is a marker of cardiovascular risk; its prevalence increases in elderly and in patients with hypertension and/or coronary arterial disease (CAD). There are no data available in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and with both CAD and PAD. Methods: To investigate the presence of AVS, 57 patients with stable CAD, 38 with PAD, and 62 with CAD + PAD where studied by echocardiography. Results: The prevalence of AVS progressively increased within groups (P = 0.005). The prevalence of AVS in PAD doubled that in CAD group (42.1% vs. 22.8%, P < 0.05). PAD patients had a 4.634 (95% CI: 1.02–17.88; P = 0.026) fold increased risk of AVS compared to CAD. Also CAD + PAD group had a higher prevalence of aortic sclerosis when compared to CAD group (50.8% vs. 22.8%, P = 0.001). CAD + PAD showed a 3.799 (95% CI: 1.26–11.45; P < 0 .01) fold greater risk of aortic sclerosis than CAD group. There were no differences in AVS prevalence between CAD + PAD and PAD group (50.8% vs. 42.1%; P = 0.36). Age was related to AVS in both analysis (PAD vs. CAD and CAD + PAD vs. CAD: OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.02–1.16, P = 0.011 and OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.07–1.21; P < 0.001) but no classical cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions: PAD patients have an elevated prevalence of AVS greater than CAD patients. In patients with both disease, the prevalence of AVS is similar to that of patients with PAD alone. (Echocardiography 2010;27:608‐612)     

Abnormal QT Dispersion Predicts Unexpected Sudden Death in Young Patients with Thalassemia Major

Background: QT interval dispersion has been proposed as a simple noninvasive predictor of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Patients with thalassemia major are at increased risk for sudden death. However, the independent effect of increased QT dispersion on the risk of sudden death in thalassemia major is not known. This study sought to test the hypothesis that an abnormal QT dispersion predicts sudden death in patients with thalassemia major. Methods: QT dispersion was measured in 13 consecutive patients with thalassemia major who had sudden death at a mean age of 16.1 ± 2.8 years, and in 13 survivors matched for age, gender, examination year, and transfusion therapy. Results: Patients who died suddenly had significantly greater QT dispersion (59 ± 29 ms) than patients who survived (29 ± 13 ms; P = 0.002). A cut-off value of 50 ms for QT dispersion had a sensitivity of 54%, a specificity of 92%, a positive predictive value of 87%, a negative predictive value of 67% and a predictive accuracy of 73% in identifying patients at risk of sudden death. With multiple regression analysis, QT dispersion was the only independent predictor of sudden death. Conclusions: QT dispersion is a useful marker of risk of sudden death in patients with thalassemia major. A.N.E. 1999;4(3):295–300