Introduction Healthcare databases are useful sources to investigate the epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to assess longitudinal outcomes in patients with COPD, and to develop disease management strategies. However, in order to constitute a reliable source for research, healthcare databases need to be validated. The aim of this protocol is to perform the first systemati

The number of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease among the population is currently growing, while the availability of resources for their assistance is decreasing. A solution for this problem is provided by the use of Ambient Assisted Living technologies, with the objectives to prolong the independent living of patients at home, to relieve assistance burden on caregivers, and to improve care

Objectives: The paper describes recruitment results and characteristics of the UP-TECH clinical trial sample, including level of care services use, informal caregiver burden and its determinants.Methods: UP-TECH is designed to test innovative care solutions for community-dwelling patients with moderate stage Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers in Italy. Four hundred and fifty patient-caregive

Chondroadherin (CHAD) is a cartilage matrix protein that mediates the adhesion of isolated chondrocytes. Its protein core is composed of 11 leucine-rich repeats (LRR) flanked by cysteine-rich domains. CHAD makes important interactions with collagen as well as with cell-surface heparin sulfate proteoglycans and α2β1 integrins. The integrin-binding site is located in a region of hitherto unknown str

Aim: The relationship between support at home and rehospitalization has not been extensively studied until now. In particular, little is known about the impact of being assisted by migrant care workers (MCW) and rehospitalization. We aimed at investigating such a relationship in a population of older patients discharged from hospitals. Methods: Our series consisted of 506 patients aged 65 years or

Background: Italy is expected to experience the largest growth in persons ≥65 years (>20 % by 2020). This demographic shift allows for geriatric research on predictive clinical and biological markers of outcomes related to frailty, re-hospitalization and mortality. Aims: To describe rationale and methods of the Report-AGE study project of acute care patients in Italian National Research Center on

Background: There is consensus that dementia is the most burdensome disease for modern societies. Few cost-of-illness studies examined the complexity of Alzheimer's disease (AD) burden, considering at the same time health and social care, cash allowances, informal care, and out-of-pocket expenditure by families. Methods: This is a comprehensive cost-of-illness study based on the baseline data from

Even though there is a constant and accelerating growth of the aging population worldwide, such a rapid rise is negatively impacting available home and community services not able to encompass the necessities associated with the increased number of older people. In particular, there are increasing demands on e-health care services and smart technologies needed for frail elders with chronic disease

It has been hypothesized that low frequency (1-5% minor allele frequency (MAF)) and rare ( 1000-fold more significant than the previous sentinel variant and not in close LD (six had MAF < 5%). Furthermore, conditional analysis revealed multiple independent signals (ranging from 1 to 5) in a third of the 98 lipid loci tested, including rare variants. Addition of our novel associations resulted in b

In Europe postgraduate training to become a geriatrician is regulated by national governments. To gain some insight how these regulations work in practice students of the Xth EAMA Postgraduate Course in Geriatrics prepared a presentation on how to become a geriatrician in their country. This article summarizes and compares the given information of 16 European countries illustrating an extensive di

Background: Social support has a strong impact on individuals, not least on older individuals with health problems. A lack of support network and poor family or social relations may be crucial in later life, and represent risk factors for elder abuse. This study focused on the associations between social support, demographics/socio-economics, health variables and elder mistreatment. Methods: The c

Oligodendrocytes are part of the glial cells located in the central nervous system, capable of providing trophic support to neurons and ensheathing their axons. These cells can become dysfunctional under pathologic condition. Rodent and human pluripotent stem cells are inexhaustible sources for producing oligodendrocytes that can be used for disease modeling and cell replacement therapy studies. T

We analyzed seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among the Italian healthcare workers (HCW) in order to identify socio-demographic and clinical determinants of vaccination. We used data from the survey "Health and health care use in Italy," which comprised interviews of 5,336 HCWs For each respondent, information on socioeconomic, health conditions, self-perceived health and smoking status were

The invention relates to hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate, its use as imaging agent, an imaging medium comprising hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate and methods of 13C-MR detection wherein such an imaging medium is used. Further, the invention relates to methods of producing hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate.The invention relates to hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate, its use as imaging agent, an imaging medium comprising hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate and methods of 13C-MR detection wherein such an imaging medium is used. Further, the invention relates to methods of producing hyperpolarised 13C-α-ketoisocaproate.

Globally, an enormous number of polluted areas are in need of remediation to prevent adverse effects on health and environment. In situ remediation and especially the monitoring thereof needs further development to avoid costly and hazardous shipments associated with excavation. The monitoring of in situ remediation actions needs easier and cheaper nondestructive methods for evaluation and verific

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is dominant mode of interannual climate variability, but its response to external climate forcings remains uncertain. Past studies have limitations including the use of short datasets and the uncertainty contained in reconstructions or simulations of past ENSO variations. To improve our understanding on ENSO variations, it is important to examine its respons

Hereditary retinal degenerations encompass a group of genetic diseases characterized by extreme clinical variability. Following next-generation sequencing and autozygome-based screening of patients presenting with a peculiar, recessive form of cone-dominated retinopathy, we identified five homozygous variants [p.(Asp594fs), p.(Gln117*), p.(Met712fs), p.(Ile756Phe), and p.(Glu543Lys)] in the polygl

The invention relates to a method of 13C-MR detection using an imaging medium comprising hyperpolarised 13C-lactate and to an imaging medium containing hyperpolarised 13C1-lactate for use in said method.The invention relates to a method of 13C-MR detection using an imaging medium comprising hyperpolarised 13C-lactate and to an imaging medium containing hyperpolarised 13C1-lactate for use in said method.