Dosimetria tramite Risonanza Elettronica di Spin (ESR) in Electron Intra-Operative RadioTherapy (IORT): misure di Output Factor e simulazioni Monte Carlo-GEANT4

La Radioterapia IntraOperatoria (IORT) È una modalità di trattamento in cui una singola dose di radiazioni è impartita direttamente al letto tumorale o al tumore durante l'intervento chirurgico, evitando di colpire i tessuti sani circostanti. Nel caso di irraggiamento alla mammella, una singola frazione di 21 Gy impartita al volume neoplastico durante la procedura chirurgica è equivalente ad una dose totale di 60 Gy che solitamente viene somministrata con la radioterapia frazionata. Questo lavoro riporta il confronto tra la risposta ESR di dosimetri di alanina e di camere a ionizzazione Markus per le misurazioni degli Output Factor (OF) di fasci di elettroni prodotti da un acceleratore line…

The integrated action framework of Rete Natura 2000 Basilicata

Basilicata Natura 2000 network consists of 50 Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and 17 Special Protection Zones (SPZs), covering alltogether more than 17% of the regional area. This network, partially overlapping other forms of land protection, represents a valuable environmental, agricultural and cultural heritage, in which the safeguard of natural resources and landscapes has to be coupled with the needs of the local population; especially in relation to development and social welfare. The Natura 2000 project involved a panel of experts belonging to 15 different institutions, to form a steering committee with the following professional and scientific skills: vegetation, landscape, fauna…

Piano per la produzione di Proteine Vegetali in Sicilia: recupero e valorizzazione della lenticchia di Ustica

VARIAZIONI anatomiche del seno sfenoidale VALUTATI IN MDTC

The association between low skeletal muscle mass and delirium: results from the nationwide multi-centre Italian Delirium Day 2017

Abstract Introduction Delirium and sarcopenia are common, although underdiagnosed, geriatric syndromes. Several pathological mechanisms can link delirium and low skeletal muscle mass, but few studies have investigated their association. We aimed to investigate (1) the association between delirium and low skeletal muscle mass and (2) the possible role of calf circumference mass in finding cases with delirium. Methods The analyses were conducted employing the cross-sectional “Delirium Day” initiative, on patient 65 years and older admitted to acute hospital medical wards, emergency departments, rehabilitation wards, nursing homes and hospices in Italy in 2017. Delirium was diagnosed as a 4 + …

Effetti dell'applicazione fogliare di glicinbetaina su Festuca arundinacea (Schreb) sottoposta a stress salino

Valutazione della resistenza allo stress salino di Puccinellia distans (Jacq.) Parl. trattata con applicazioni fogliari dell'osmoregolatore glicinbetaina

Clinical features and follow-up in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Objective To investigate the clinical manifestations at diagnosis and during follow-up in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome to better define the natural history of the disease. Study design A retrospective and prospective multicenter study was conducted with 228 patients in the context of the Italian Network for Primary Immunodeficiencies. Clinical diagnosis was confirmed by cytogenetic or molecular analysis. Results The cohort consisted of 112 males and 116 females; median age at diagnosis was 4 months (range 0 to 36 years 10 months). The diagnosis was made before 2 years of age in 71% of patients, predominantly related to the presence of heart anomalies and neonatal hypocalcemia. In…

Progetto "Innovazione della Cerealicoltura in Sicilia"; un sistema informatizzato a supporto delle scelte colturali delle aziende cerealicole siciliane

Progetto Energie Rinnovabili da Colture Agricole (E.Ri.C.A.): un'opportunità per le aziende agricole di diversificare e consolidare fonti di reddito

A Study of Choline and Standard Uptake Value Correlation in Discriminating IDC from ILC.

Emotional shops

Nowadays, shops are not anymore places for consumption but micro-worlds of individual and social life. Selling acquires many and various meanings and the shopping center becomes a cultural and spiritual center. The choise of a brand is not anymore a choise of consumption but a lifestyle. Many elements concur in defining the communicative strategies of selling (complex corporate image [1]): advertising, logo, marketing, design of objects, shop windows, promotional events. And all of them seem to become values of life: claim is a motto (“Impossible is nothing” by Adidas); the logo is an identification mark for the consumer-customer (‘swoosh’ by Nike is tattooed on the skin); the testimonials …

Characterization of a bean landrace from Sicily: the ‘fagiolo Badda di Polizzi'

Inside the project “Piano per la Produzione di Proteine Vegetali in Sicilia” investigations were carried out to characterize a bean population cultivated in the Parco delle Madonie area, the ‘Fagiolo Badda di Polizzi’. The producers’ interest for this landrace and the appreciation of the consumers could justify the start up of a valorization program through a product certification. Researches on the morpho-physiological aspects and on the nutritional profile were made in trials conducted between 2005 and 2007. All the Badda bean accessions showed an indeterminate plant growth habit, white flowers and a very delayed flowering time. In particular, a certain variability was seen and described …

Prevalence and features of delirium in older patients admitted to rehabilitation facilities

Background: Delirium is thought to be common across various settings of care; however, still little research has been conducted in rehabilitation. Aim: We investigated the prevalence of delirium, its features and motor subtypes in older patients admitted to rehabilitation facilities during the three editions of the “Delirium Day project”. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which 1237 older patients (age ≥ 65 years old) admitted to 50 Italian rehabilitation wards during the three editions of the “Delirium Day project” (2015 to 2017) were included. Delirium was evaluated through the 4AT and its motor subtype with the Delirium Motor Subtype Scale. Results: Delirium was detected i…

Indagine preliminare sulla presenza di composti ad attività antitumorale (lignani) in campioni di frumento duro siciliano e prodotti derivati.

I Lignani costituiscono una particolare classe di composti fenolici caratterizzati da attività antiestrogenica e antitumorale. Sono contenuti principalmente nei semi di lino e di sesamo, nell’olio extra vergine di oliva, nei cereali a chicco intero, in varie verdure e frutta. In letteratura si ritrovano dati relativi al contenuto in lignani di vari cereali tra cui il grano tenero, ma quelli del grano duro sono frammentari o nulli. Per questo motivo abbiamo condotto uno studio preliminare per la determinazione del contenuto in lignani in campioni di grano duro, semole, pasta e pane prodotti in Sicilia raccolti nel corso del 2010. Dopo estrazione, i campioni sono stati sottoposti ad analisi i…

ALICE: Physics performance report, volume II

ALICE is a general-purpose heavy-ion experiment designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC. It currently involves more than 900 physicists and senior engineers, from both the nuclear and high-energy physics sectors, from over 90 institutions in about 30 countries. The ALICE detector is designed to cope with the highest particle multiplicities above those anticipated for Pb-Pb collisions (dN(ch)/dy up to 8000) and it will be operational at the start-up of the LHC. In addition to heavy systems, the ALICE Collaboration will study collisions of lower-mass ions, which are a means of varying the energy density, …

Alanine/ESR dosimetry for electron Intra-Operative RadioTherapy: output factor measurements and Monte Carlo-GEANT4 simulations for IORT mobile dedicate accelerator

Intra-operative radiation therapy (IORT) is a treatment modality where a single high dose of radiation is delivered directly to the tumor bed or to the exposed tumor during the surgical intervention, while avoiding surrounding dose-limiting structures. Mobile electron linear accelerators dedicated to IORT have been manufactured which have promoted a local large diffusion of this radiotherapy modality. For breast irradiation, a single fraction of 21 Gy delivered on the target volume during the surgical procedure is equivalent to the total dosage (60 Gy) usually delivered during 30 external fractionated radiotherapy at 2Gy/fraction. Alternatively, a single dose of 10 Gy can be administered as…

Progetto “Piano per la produzione di Proteine Vegetali in Sicilia”: recupero e valorizzazione del fagiolo badda di Polizzi - risultati preliminari

Understanding Factors Associated With Psychomotor Subtypes of Delirium in Older Inpatients With Dementia

Objectives Few studies have analyzed factors associated with delirium subtypes. In this study, we investigate factors associated with subtypes of delirium only in patients with dementia to provide insights on the possible prevention and treatments. Design This is a cross-sectional study nested in the "Delirium Day" study, a nationwide Italian point-prevalence study. Setting and participants Older patients admitted to 205 acute and 92 rehabilitation hospital wards. Measures Delirium was evaluated with the 4-AT and the motor subtypes with the Delirium Motor Subtype Scale. Dementia was defined by the presence of a documented diagnosis in the medical records and/or prescription of acetylcholine…

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms and FDG-PET in breast cancer. Clin Transl Imaging, 2013: 1 (Suppl 1):S6.

Correlation between SUV with Partial Volume Correction and choline in breast cancer.

Effetti dell'applicazione fogliare di glicinbetaina e chitosano su Puccinellia distans (Jacq.) Parl. sottoposta a stress salino

Curcumin delivered by solid lipid nanoparticles potentiates radiation effects in MCF7 cancer cells

Indagini conoscitive per la valorizzazione dei prodotti da forno nel comprensorio del GAL Terre del Gattopardo (Sicilia)

Il presente lavoro si propone di studiare il processo della panificazione in un’area ben definita della regione Sicilia, compresa tra le province di Palermo e Agrigento, al fine di individuare i possibili percorsi di valorizzazione per tutelare i prodotti da forno tradizionali. Il territorio oggetto di studio è quello dei Comuni che aderiscono al GAL (Gruppo di Azione Locale) Terre del Gattopardo i quali rappresentano un’area con una vocazione particolare per la coltura del frumento duro e per la produzione di prodotti da forno ad elevato valore tradizionale; alcuni di questi costituiscono un vero e proprio patrimonio culturale, oltre che gastronomico e alimentare, meritevoli di essere sost…

ANATOMICAL VARIATIONS OF THE SPHENOID SINUS ASSESSED WITH MDCT

Background The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of the anatomical variations of the sphenoid sinus in 293 patients studied by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Materials and Methods The MDCT (64 rows) studies of the paranasal sinuses of 293 patients, performed in 2006-2009, were reviewed to assess anatomical variations of the sphenoid sinus and related neurovascular structures. Anatomical variations were evaluated on 1 mm thick MPR reformations, displayed on a high resolution workstation screen. Pneumatization of the anterior clinoid process (ACP), pterygoid recess (PR), protrusion of the internal carotid artery (ICA), optic nerve (ON), maxillary and vidian nerve into t…

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound: opportunità e sfide della chirurgia ablativa non invasiva sotto guida a Risonanza Magnetica

Analysis of Metabolic Parameters Coming from Basal and Interim PET in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Objective: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with F-18-Fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) emerged as a prognostic tool to predict treatment outcome in Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). Moreover, a FDG-PET adapted strategy is currently assessed in clinical trial to minimize the toxic effect while maintaining the efficacy of treatment in HL. Purpose was to analyze the quantitative parameters to support the prognostic role of FDG-PET today based on the semi-quantitative Deauville 5-point Scale (D5-PS). Methods: This retrospective study included 53 patients diagnosed with advanced-stage HL between 2009 and 2014, enrolled in the PET response-adapted clinical trial HD 0607. FDG-PET was performed at baseline (PET0)…

La reintroduzione del grano monococco (Triticum monococcum L)in Sicilia: risultati di un'analisi preliminare delle caratteristiche agronomiche e qualitative di tre genotipi.

Il grano monococco (Triticum monococcum L.), conosciuto come “farro piccolo”, è una specie diploide con genoma A (2n=2x=14), le cui cariossidi, anche dopo trebbiatura, si presentano rivestite dalle glume. Insieme a farro ed orzo, dal Neolitico fino al termine dell’età del Bronzo (900 a.C.), è stato alla base della dieta delle popolazioni mediterranee, per essere poi sostituito dal più produttivo farro (T. dicoccum) e successivamente completamente dimenticato. Il crescente consumo di alimenti con caratteristiche dietetico-nutrizionali elevate, unito alla possibilità di introdurre nel panorama cerealicolo siciliano una coltura mai sperimentata prima, ci ha indirizzato nella realizzazione di u…