Search results for "Licata"

The Socio-Economic Health Deprivation Index and its association with mortality and attitudes towards influenza vaccination among the elderly in Paler…

2019

Abstract Introduction Inequality levels are associated with vaccination coverage among the older and at risk population hypothesizing socio-economic status (SES) as a determinant of health status. The aim of the study was to evaluate the trend of health outcome and socio-health-economic-status deprivation index (IDPA) among elderly people in Palermo city, Italy . Methods The Palermo Unit of 2015 CCM project deal with collection of data useful to validate IDPA using the Italian census data from 2009 to 2015 on overall mortality and cause of death. The preventive outcome used to validate the IDPA index was vaccination coverage from 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 influenza season among Palermo elderly…

Case-based surveillance of measles in Sicily during 2012-2017: The changing molecular epidemiology and implications for vaccine strategies.

2018

Following the indication of the World Health Organization, a national plan for the elimination of measles was approved in Italy and this included the improvement of the molecular surveil- lance of measles viruses and the interruption of indigenous transmission of the disease. Nevertheless, large outbreaks continue to occur in almost all regions of the country, includ- ing Sicily. Here we describe the epidemiology and molecular dynamics of measles viruses as a result of the measles surveillance activity carried out by the “Reference Laboratory for Measles and Rubella” in Sicily over a 5-year period. Biological samples of 259 suspected measles cases were tested for viral RNA detection and a t…

Improved electroless platinum contacts on CdZnTe X- and γ-rays detectors

2020

AbstractPlatinum is a promising candidate for the realization of blocking electrical contacts on cadmium-zinc-telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) radiation detectors. However, the poor mechanical adhesion of this metal often shortens the lifetime of the final device. In this work, a simple and effective procedure to obtain robust platinum contacts by electroless deposition is presented. Microscopical analysis revealed the final thickness and composition of the contact layer and its adhesion to the bulk crystal. The blocking nature of the Pt-CdZnTe junction, essential to obtain low noise devices, was confirmed by current–voltage measurements. The planar Pt-CdZnTe-Pt detectors showed good room temperat…

Methylation of cytokines gene promoters in IL-1β-treated human intestinal epithelial cells

2017

Objective and design: Epigenetic regulation is important in the activation of inflammatory cells. In the present study, we evaluated if DNA-methylation variations are involved in Interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced intestinal epithelial cells activation. Materials and methods: Differentiated Caco-2 cells were exposed to IL-1β or to 5-azadeoxycytidine (5-azadC) for 24 or 48 h. Genome-wide methylation status was evaluated, while DNA methylation status at the promoter region of the gene encoding interleukin-6, 8 and 10 (IL-6, 8 and 10) was estimated. The levels of the corresponding gene products as well as DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) quantity were assessed. Results: IL-1β decreased genomic m…

Outbreak of ST395 KPC-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Palermo, Italy

2018

Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in Italy: could mandatory vaccination be a solution to protect patients?

2019

Several studies have reported that influenza infections in healthcare workers (HCWs) can lead to nosocomial outbreaks. HCWs can potentially be infected with influenza every year, and may continue to work, encouraging the spread of the virus. Different strategies, such as informative interventions on influenza and influenza vaccination, ‘onsite’ vaccination weeks, communicative strategies through dedicated web and social media pages, and mandatory informed dissent form, were organized for HCWs working at the University Hospital of Palermo, during previous influenza seasons. However, the increased vaccination rates observed among HCWs still remain far from the 75% recommended by Public Healt…

Anisakis sensitization in different population groups and public health impact. A systematic review

2018

Anisakis simplex spp. sensitization rates have increased worldwide, with a significant impact on health-care systems. To date, no clear-cut diagnostic criteria and laboratory algorithm have been established, so anisakiasis still represents an under-reported health problem whose clinical manifestations, when present, mimic the much more common allergic and digestive disorders. Aim of the study was to systematically review the available literature on the prevalence of sensitization against Anisakis in the general population and in specific population groups, taking into account the impact of the different available diagnostic techniques on the epidemiological data. Following the Preferred Rep…

Intermittent targeted therapies and stochastic evolution in patients affected by chronic myeloid leukemia

2016

Front line therapy for the treatment of patients affected by chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is based on the administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, namely imatinib or, more recently, axitinib. Although imatinib is highly effective and represents an example of a successful molecular targeted therapy, the appearance of resistance is observed in a proportion of patients, especially those in advanced stages. In this work, we investigate the appearance of resistance in patients affected by CML, by modeling the evolutionary dynamics of cancerous cell populations in a simulated patient treated by an intermittent targeted therapy. We simulate, with the Monte Carlo method, the stochastic evolu…

Prognosis and cure of long-term cancer survivors: A population-based estimation.

2019

Background: Increasing evidence of cure for some neoplasms has emerged in recent years. The study aimed to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure. Methods: Information on more than half a million cancer patients aged 15-74 years collected by population-based Italian cancer registries and mixture cure models were used to estimate the life expectancy of fatal tumors (LEFT), proportions of patients with similar death rates of the general population (cure fraction), and time to reach 5-year conditional relative survival (CRS) >90% or 95% (time to cure). Results: Between 1990 and 2000, the median LEFT increased >1 year for breast (from 8.1 to 9.4 years) and prostate cancers (from 5.…

Worldwide comparison of ovarian cancer survival: Histological group and stage at diagnosis (CONCORD-2)

2016

Abstract Objective Ovarian cancer comprises several histological groups with widely differing levels of survival. We aimed to explore international variation in survival for each group to help interpret international differences in survival from all ovarian cancers combined. We also examined differences in stage-specific survival. Methods The CONCORD programme is the largest population-based study of global trends in cancer survival, including data from 60 countries for 695,932 women (aged 15–99years) diagnosed with ovarian cancer during 1995–2009. We defined six histological groups: type I epithelial, type II epithelial, germ cell, sex cord-stromal, other specific non-epithelial and non-sp…