Adolescent use of social media and associations with sleep patterns across 18 European and North American countries

2023

Objective Over the past decade, concurrent with increasing social media use (SMU), there has been a shift toward poorer sleep among adolescents in many countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the cross-national associations between adolescent SMU and sleep patterns, by comparing 4 different categories of SMU (nonactive, active, intense, and problematic use). Design, setting, and participants Data were from 86,542 adolescents in 18 European and North American countries that participated in the 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged study. Measurements Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to examine cross-national associations between 4 SMU categories and adolescent s…

Editorial for the Special Issue “Extracellular Chaperones and Related miRNA as Diagnostic Tools of Chronic Diseases”

2021

Molecular chaperones are a family of proteins that are highly conserved during phylogenesis [...]

Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among patients admitted to an intensive care unit with COVID-19 and mortality of those who developed VAP. We performed a systematic search on PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science from inception to 2nd March 2021 for nonrandomized studies specifically addressing VAP in adult patients with COVID-19 and reporting data on at least one primary outcome of interest. Random effect single-arm meta-analysis was performed for the occurrence of VAP and mortality (at the longest follow up) and ICU length of stay. Twenty studies were included in the systematic review and meta-an…

Mortality after in-hospital cardiac arrest in patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

2021

Abstract Aim To estimate the mortality rate, the rate of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival with favorable neurological outcome in patients with COVID-19 after in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) and attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, bioRxiv and medRxiv were surveyed up to 8th February 2021 for studies reporting data on mortality of patients with COVID-19 after IHCA. The primary outcome sought was mortality (in-hospital or at 30 days) after IHCA with attempted CPR. Additional outcomes were the overall rate of IHCA, the rate of non-shockable presenting rhythms, the rate of ROSC and the rate of survival with favorable neuro…

Palliative Care Principles and Anesthesiology Clinical Practice: Current Perspectives

2021

Background Palliative care is a person-centered approach aiming to relieve patient's health-related suffering and it is often needed when caring for critically ill patients to manage symptoms and identify goals of care. Aim To describe the integration of palliative care principles in anesthesiology clinical practice, within and outside the ICU and to analyze the additional challenges that COVID-19 pandemic is posing in this context. Methods For the purpose of this review, PubMed database was searched for studies concerning palliative care and end of life care, in contexts involving anesthesiologists and intensivists, published in the last 5 years. Results Anesthesiologists and intensivists …

THE ROLE OF HSP60 IN AMYLOID BETA PATHWAY: RELEVANCE TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting more than 40 million individuals worldwide. The high number of factors triggering the onset of AD justifies the current absence of disease-modifying therapies. The involved pathological mechanisms are still elusive and, therefore, the finding of effective therapies requires further elucidation of biomolecular mechanisms controlling AD pathogenesis. Particularly, the aberrant amyloidogenic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP), amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide misfolding and oligomerization, and the impairment of the protein quality control machinery are key hallmarks characterizing the onset of the disease. Furthe…

Use of autobilevel ventilation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: An observational study.

2017

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-choice treatment for obstructive sleep-disordered breathing. Automatic bilevel ventilation can be used to treat obstructive sleep-disordered breathing when CPAP is ineffective, but clinical experience is still limited. To assess the outcome of titration with CPAP and automatic bilevel ventilation, the charts of 356 outpatients (obstructive sleep apnea, n = 242; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease + obstructive sleep apnea overlap, n = 80; obesity hypoventilation syndrome [OHS], n = 34; 103 females) treated for obstructive sleep-disordered breathing from January 2014 to April 2017 were reviewed. Positive airway pressure titration was …

Hsp60 in Modifications of Nervous System Homeostasis and Neurodegeneration

2019

Hsp60 is a critical chaperonin for its role in preserving cell survival and protecting mitochondria against stress conditions. Indeed, mutations or malfunctions of Hsp60 are involved in several human diseases, either genetic or acquired, some of them affecting also the brain. In this chapter, we present several experimental observations supporting the role of Hsp60 in some neurodegenerative diseases. Further, Hsp60, as multifunctional protein, contributes to the protein folding system, to protect mitochondria and is involved in several other cellular pathways that are known to be affected in these diseases. Furthermore, due to its role outside of the mitochondria and in the extracellular fl…

Cross-national validation of the social media disorder scale: findings from adolescents from 44 countries

2022

Background and aims: There is currently no cross-national validation of a scale that measures problematic social media use (SMU). The present study investigated and compared the psychometric properties of the social media disorder (SMD) scale among young adolescents from different countries. Design: Validation study. Setting and participants: Data came from 222 532 adolescents from 44 countries participating in the health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) survey (2017/2018). The HBSC survey was conducted in the European region and Canada. Participants were on average aged 13.54 years (standard deviation = 1.63) and 51.24% were girls. Measurement: Problematic SMU was measured using th…

Bloodstream Infections in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021

Background: Little is known about the occurrence of bloodstream infections in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and the related clinical consequences. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and mortality of this patient population. Methods: A systematic search was performed on PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science from inception to 19 April 2021. The primary outcome was the occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The secondary outcome was mortality at the longest available follow-up. Results: Forty-six studies met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 42,694 patients e…

Emotional status and fear in patients scheduled for elective surgery during COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide cross-sectional survey (COVID-SURGERY)

2021

Abstract Background Fragmented data exist on the emotional and psychological distress generated by hospital admission during the pandemic in specific populations of patients, and no data exists on patients scheduled for surgery. The aim of this multicentre nationwide prospective cross-sectional survey was to evaluate the impact of pandemic on emotional status and fear of SARS-CoV-2 contagion in a cohort of elective surgical patients in Italy, scheduled for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Twenty-nine Italian centres were involved in the study, for a total of 2376 patients surveyed (mean age of 58 years ± 16.61; 49.6% males). The survey consisted of 28 total closed questions, in…

Hsp60, amateur chaperone in amyloid-beta fibrillogenesis

2016

BACKGROUND: Molecular chaperones are a very special class of proteins that play essential roles in many cellular processes like folding, targeting and transport of proteins. Moreover, recent evidence indicates that chaperones can act as potentially strong suppressor agents in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Indeed, in vitro experiments demonstrate that several chaperones are able to significantly slow down or suppress aggregation of Aβ peptide and in vivo studies reveal that treatment with specific chaperones or their overexpression can ameliorate some distinct pathological signs characterizing AD. METHODS: Here we investigate using a biophysical approach (fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), t…

Hsp60 Protects against Amyloid β Oligomer Synaptic Toxicity via Modification of Toxic Oligomer Conformation

2019

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. While the etiology of AD remains uncertain, neurotoxic effects of amyloid beta oligomers (Aβo) on synaptic function, a well-established early event in AD, is an attractive area for the development of novel strategies to modify or cease the disease's progression. In this work, we tested the protective action of the mitochondrial chaperone Hsp60 against Aβo neurotoxicity, by determining the direct effect of Hsp60 in changing Aβo toxic conformations and thus reducing their dysfunctional synaptic binding and consequent suppression of long-term potentiation. Our data suggest that Hsp60 has a direct impact on Aβo, resulting in a…

Cross‐national validation of the Social Media Disorder‐scale : Findings from adolescents from 44 countries

2022

Background and aims There is currently no cross-national validation of a scale that measures problematic social media use (SMU). The present study investigated and compared the psychometric properties of the Social Media Disorder (SMD)-scale among young adolescents from different countries. Design Validation study. Setting and participants Data came from 222,532 adolescents from 44 countries participating in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey (2017/2018). The HBSC survey was conducted in the European region and Canada. Participants were on average 13.5 years old (SD = 1.6) and 51.2% were girls. Measurement Problematic SMU was measured using the 9-item SMD-scale with …

Automatic bilevel ventilation (AutoBI) in obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (SDB): clinical features and compliance to treatment

2017

CPAP is the first-choice treatment for obstructive SDB, but the criteria to prescribe AutoBI are undefined. Trials of AutoBI ventilation in patients under titration for obstructive SDB from January 2015 to January 2017 ((n=67 out of 265 titrations) were reviewed to assess: a) their clinical features, b) the reason to shift from CPAP to AutoBI, and c) long-term compliance to treatment. AutoBI was used in cases of intolerance to high therapeutic CPAP levels (n=23) or incomplete resolution of SDB on CPAP (n=45). AutoBI failed in 11 patients (16.4%): 2 OSA patients (7.7%), 4 overlap patients (21%), and 5 OHS patients (22.7%). The Table reports the differences at diagnosis between patients presc…

International perspectives on social media use among adolescents: Implications for mental and social well-being and substance use

2022

In the present study, we aimed to explore the relationship between intensity of social media use (SMU), problematic SMU and well-being outcomes. Four categories of SMU were developed taking into account both intensity of use and problematic SMU simultaneously: non-active; active; intense; and problematic use. Using these four categories, we assessed associations between SMU and mental and social well-being, and substance use. Data from 190,089 respondents aged 11, 13, and 15 years from 42 countries involved in the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study were analyzed. With a slight cross-national variance, 78% of adolescents in the sample were classified as active or intense us…