La prevenzione del bullismo: un'indagine esplorativa sugli incontri di rischio a Palermo

Preliminary data on systematics and biogeography of Bufo bufo in the Western Mediterranean

Search for K+ decays to a muon and invisible particles

The NA62 experiment at CERN reports searches for $K^+\to\mu^+N$ and $K^+\to\mu^+\nu X$ decays, where $N$ and $X$ are massive invisible particles, using the 2016-2018 data set. The $N$ particle is assumed to be a heavy neutral lepton, and the results are expressed as upper limits of ${\cal O}(10^{-8})$ of the neutrino mixing parameter $|U_{\mu4}|^2$ for $N$ masses in the range 200-384 MeV/$c^2$ and lifetime exceeding 50 ns. The $X$ particle is considered a scalar or vector hidden sector mediator decaying to an invisible final state, and upper limits of the decay branching fraction for $X$ masses in the range 10-370 MeV/$c^2$ are reported for the first time, ranging from ${\cal O}(10^{-5})$ t…

GLI AVATAR DELLA PITTURA. LE SOFT SCULPTURES DI DOROTHEA TANNING

One-year surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in health-care setting, Palermo, Italy

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging cause of infections outside of health care settings. We carried out a survey to determine the prevalence and characteristics of MRSA isolates (CA-MRSA, HA-MRSA) identified among in- and outpatients by the clinical microbiology laboratories of four general hospitals in Palermo, Italy during the period February-January 2010. Methods: Participating laboratories performed isolation, confirmed methicillin-resistance by their routine method and weekly sent their strains to the coordinating laboratory at the Department of Sciences for Health Promotion “G. D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, Italy. The isolates were tes…

Serious Asthma Events with Fluticasone plus Salmeterol versus Fluticasone Alone

BACKGROUND The safe and appropriate use of long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) for the treatment of asthma has been widely debated. In two large clinical trials, investigators found a potential risk of serious asthma-related events associated with LABAs. This study was designed to evaluate the risk of administering the LABA salmeterol in combination with an inhaled glucocorticoid, fluticasone propionate. METHODS In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial, adolescent and adult patients (age, ≥12 years) with persistent asthma were assigned to receive either fluticasone with salmeterol or fluticasone alone for 26 weeks. All the patients had a history of a severe asthma exacerbation in t…

The beam and detector of the NA62 experiment at CERN

NA62 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS dedicated to measurements of rare kaon decays. Such measurements, like the branching fraction of the $K^{+} \rightarrow \pi^{+} \nu \bar\nu$ decay, have the potential to bring significant insights into new physics processes when comparison is made with precise theoretical predictions. For this purpose, innovative techniques have been developed, in particular, in the domain of low-mass tracking devices. Detector construction spanned several years from 2009 to 2014. The collaboration started detector commissioning in 2014 and will collect data until the end of 2018. The beam line and detector components are described together with their early …

Correlation between work impairment, scores of rhinitis severity and asthma using the MASK-air ® App

Background: In allergic rhinitis, a relevant outcome providing information on the effectiveness of interventions is needed. In MASK-air (Mobile Airways Sentinel Network), a visual analogue scale (VAS) for work is used as a relevant outcome. This study aimed to assess the performance of the work VAS work by comparing VAS work with other VAS measurements and symptom-medication scores obtained concurrently. Methods: All consecutive MASK-air users in 23 countries from 1 June 2016 to 31 October 2018 were included (14 189 users; 205 904 days). Geolocalized users self-assessed daily symptom control using the touchscreen functionality on their smart phone to click on VAS scores (ranging from 0 to 1…

Effectiveness and safety of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in chronic hepatitis C patients: Results of the Italian cohort of a post-marketing observational study

Abstract Background and Aims The MARS post-marketing, observational study evaluates glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in a large population of Italian patients who are infected with HCV. Patients and Methods Achievement of SVR12 was the primary endpoint in the overall population and by subpopulations of interest (treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients, subjects infected with different HCV genotype/sub-genotype, cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients, patients with different severity of fibrosis, patients with an APRI score ≥1, subjects with comorbidities, HIV-coinfected patients, elderly patients and people who use drugs). Safety and quality of life (assessed by SF-36 and Work Productivity…

Cardiovascular events and intensity of treatment in polycythemia vera.

A b s t r ac t Background Current treatment recommendations for patients with polycythemia vera call for maintaining a hematocrit of less than 45%, but this therapeutic strategy has not been tested in a randomized clinical trial. Methods We randomly assigned 365 adults with JAK2-positive polycythemia vera who were being treated with phlebotomy, hydroxyurea, or both to receive either more intensive treatment (target hematocrit, <45%) (low-hematocrit group) or less intensive treatment (target hematocrit, 45 to 50%) (high-hematocrit group). The primary composite end point was the time until death from cardiovascular causes or major thrombotic events. The secondary end points were cardiovascula…

Kaon physics at the CERN-SPS

The NA48/2 and NA62 collaborations report on recent results, current status, and prospects of kaon physics at the CERN-SPS. The NA62 collaborations aims to measure the decay [Formula: see text] with an uncertainty of 10% or better. The NA62 detector and preliminary results from a pilot run in 2014 are presented. In addition, recent results of the NA48/2 collaboration are reported. A search for Dark Photons has been performed in [Formula: see text] decays via the kaon decays [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. No dark photon signal was observed and new upper limits on the mixing parameter [Formula: see text] and the dark photon mass were computed. We also report the first observati…