0000000000971779
AUTHOR
A. Luca
Being the Family Caregiver of a Patient With Dementia During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Lockdown
Background: Family caregivers of patients with dementia are at high risk of stress and burden, and quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have increased the risk of psychological disturbances in this population. The current study was carried out during the national lockdown declared in March 2020 by the Italian government as a containment measure of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and is the first nationwide survey on the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the mental health of dementia informal caregivers.Methods: Eighty-seven dementia centers evenly distributed on the Italian territory enrolled 4,710 caregiver–patient pairs. Caregivers underwent a tel…
Test and Simulation of a LYSO+APD matrix with a tagged Photon Beam from 40 to 300 MeV
Understanding the energy resolution terms for LYSO based calorimeters with APD readout at low energy (< 500 MeV) is relevant both for the completion of the KLOE-2 experiment, at DAΦNE, and for the design of the Mu2e calorimeter. In this work, we present a dedicated comparison between experimental data, taken in 2011 at the MAMI tagged photon beam facility with a crystal matrix prototype, and a full Geant-4 simulation of this detector. The crystal prototype matrix consisted of 9 2×2 × 15 cm3 LYSO crystals read-out by 10×10 mm2 Hamamatsu avalanche photodiodes (APD) surrounded by 8 PbWO4 crystals read-out by Bialkali photomultipliers for outer leakage recovery granting a total transverse cover…
The calorimeter project for the Mu2e experiment
The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab aims to measure the charged lepton flavor violating neutrinoless conversion of a negative muon into an electron. The conversion results in a monochromatic electron with an energy slightly below the rest mass of the muon (104.97 MeV). We expect to set a limit of ∼ 6×10^(−17) at 90% CL in three years of running, using an intense and clean pulsed μ^− beam providing ∼10^(18) stopped muons on target in three years of running. The experiment performs a strong suppression of potential background by gating off the prompts and performing precise momentum determination in conjunction with an highly efficient cosmic veto. The calorimeter should confirm that the candidat…
Accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) among the Italian Dementia Centers: a study by the Italian DLB study group (DLB-SINdem)
Introduction: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) may represent a diagnostic challenge, since its clinical picture overlaps with other dementia. Two toolkits have been developed to aid the clinician to diagnose DLB: the Lewy Body Composite Risk Score (LBCRS) and the Assessment Toolkit for DLB (AT-DLB). We aim to evaluate the reliability of these two questionnaires, and their ability to enhance the interpretation of the international consensus diagnostic criteria. Methods: LBCRS and AT-DLB were distributed to 135 Italian Neurological Centers for Cognitive Decline and Dementia (CDCDs), with the indication to administer them to all patients with dementia referred within the subsequent 3 months. We…
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre
Full list of authors: Acharyya, A.; Adam, R.; Adams, C.; Agudo, I.; Aguirre-Santaella, A.; Alfaro, R.; Alfaro, J.; Alispach, C.; Aloisio, R.; Alves Batista, R.; Amati, L.; Ambrosi, G.; Angüner, E. O.; Antonelli, L. A.; Aramo, C.; Araudo, A.; Armstrong, T.; Arqueros, F.; Asano, K.; Ascasíbar, Y. Ashley, M.; Balazs, C.; Ballester, O.; Baquero Larriva, A.; Barbosa Martins, V.; Barkov, M.; Barres de Almeida, U.; Barrio, J. A.; Bastieri, D.; Becerra, J.; Beck, G.; Becker Tjus, J.; Benbow, W.; Benito, M.; Berge, D.; Bernardini, E.; Bernlöhr, K.; Berti, A.; Bertucci, B.; Beshley, V.; Biasuzzi, B.; Biland, A.; Bissaldi, E.; Biteau, J.; Blanch, O.; Blazek, J.; Bocchino, F.; Boisson, C.; Bonneau Arbe…
Prevalence and correlates of QTc prolongation in Italian psychiatric care: cross-sectional multicentre study.
Aims.In recent years several warnings have been issued by regulatory authorities on the risk of electrocardiogram abnormalities in individuals exposed to psychotropic drugs. As a consequence of these warnings, monitoring of the QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc) has become increasingly common. This study was conducted to measure the frequency of QTc prolongation in unselected psychiatric patients, and to document the associated factors using a cross-sectional approach.Method.The study was carried out in 35 Italian psychiatric services that are part of the STAR (Servizi Territoriali Associati per la Ricerca) Network, a research group established to produce scientific knowledge by col…
Hypogonadotrophic Pituitary Insufficiency in Transfusional Hemochromatosis Complicating Thalassemia Major: MR Imaging
To identify pituitary iron overload in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia major causing secondary hypogonadism, we prospectively evaluated signal intensity abnormalities of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland of 30 patients comparing spin-echo, gradient-echo imaging and pituitary T2 relaxation times measurement. We found that pituitary iron overload can best be assessed by MR imaging using gradient-echo T2*-weighted technique to establish signal reduction in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. This finding is correlated to increasing serum ferritin level — a parameter that reflects the severity of iron overload, and is more evident in patients with secondary hypogon…