Local occurrence and fast spread of B.1.1.7 lineage: A glimpse into Friuli Venezia Giulia.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mio C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8670677 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Collection of 6 isolated populations from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northern Italy.
| PRJEB7466 | ENA
Project description:BackgroundProblem-Based Learning (PBL) is extensively used in pre- and post-graduate teaching programmes. However, it has been seldom used for in-service training and continuing medical education. We aimed to develop a PBL curriculum for a short in-service training on breastfeeding for maternal and child health professionals, and to assess the effect of these courses on their knowledge and skills. Also, the project aimed at increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates and duration in an Italian region.MethodsAfter initial training on PBL and an assessment of the learning needs of about 400 health professionals, a small working group developed learning objectives, designed a curriculum, produced manuals, and shaped assessment tools for a new PBL course on breastfeeding. The field test of the new course allowed selection of the tutors for the scaling up of the training to the whole region. During this extension phase, participants were asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire. In addition, the health professionals who attended the PBL courses in 2019 were asked to complete an online survey to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) just before, soon after the course, and 4-6 months later.ResultsThe new 29 - hour PBL course, to be delivered in four days over four consecutive weeks, gives priority to tutorial groups and practical activities (71% of the total time). Supervised clinical practices absorb 16% of time. Ethics, communication and woman-centred clinical management content run throughout the four days and all activities. The three manuals, for tutors, participants and practical activities, facilitate the tasks and performance of tutors and participants. After the field test, 32 regional tutors ran courses for 562 health professionals. The analysis of the evaluation showed a high level of satisfaction for perceived effectiveness, relevance to practice, and educational quality. The KAP questionnaires indicated a general improvement after the course and retention after 4-6 months.ConclusionsDespite some predictable shortcomings, this new PBL approach for short in-service training courses on breastfeeding showed encouraging results as far as participants' satisfaction and KAP are concerned. The possible effects on rates and duration of exclusive breastfeeding need further research.
| S-EPMC8626965 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeTo compare the use of antidepressant (AD) classes and compounds in individuals who committed suicide and in controls from the general population and to assess to what extent adherence and current use of different AD classes can affect the risk of committing suicide.MethodsIndividual data on suicide, diagnoses and AD use in Friuli Venezia Giulia from 2005 to 2014 were obtained from the Regional Social and Health Information System. All suicides that had at least one prescription of AD in the 730 days before death (N = 876) were included as cases. Each case was matched with regard to age and sex with five controls from the general population. The association between suicide and AD use was assessed using conditional logistic regression analysis.ResultsAlmost 70% of all suicides occurring in the10-year period had been prescribed AD. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) accounted for more than the 90% of the prescriptions, with paroxetine the most prescribed AD. All AD compounds and classes were not associated with a higher suicide risk, with the exception of SSRI (OR = 1.6). A decreasing trend in suicide risk was observed when adherent subjects or current AD users were compared to the others.ConclusionsAD treatment is an important factor for preventing suicide, since the use of AD at adequate dosage and for a proper duration was associated with a lower suicide risk. The proper use of AD should be ascertained by physicians, particularly in a primary care context.
| S-EPMC5486927 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Diagnosis of endometriosis and evaluation of incidence data are complex tasks because the disease is identified laparoscopically and confirmed histologically. Incidence estimates reported in literature are widely inconsistent, presumably reflecting geographical variability of risk and the difficulty of obtaining reliable data. We retrieved incident cases of endometriosis in women aged 15-50 years using hospital discharge records and pathology databases of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in the calendar period 2004-2017. We studied the spatial pattern of endometriosis incidence applying Bayesian approaches to Disease Mapping, and profiled municipalities at higher risk controlling for multiple comparisons using both q-values and a fully Bayesian approach. 4125 new cases of endometriosis were identified in the age range 15 to 50 years in the period 2004-2017. The incidence rate (x100 000) is 111 (95% CI 110-112), with a maximum of 160 in the age group 31-35 years. The geographical distribution of endometriosis incidence showed a very strong north-south spatial gradient. We consistently identified a group of five neighboring municipalities at higher risk (RR 1.31 95% CI 1.13; 1.52), even accounting for ascertainment bias. The cluster of 5 municipalities in the industrialized and polluted south-east part of the region is suggestive. However, due to the ecologic nature of the present study, information on the patients' characteristics and exposure histories are limited. Individual studies, including biomonitoring, and life-course studies are necessary to better evaluate our findings.
| S-EPMC8297028 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although length of stay (LoS) after childbirth has been diminishing in several high-income countries in recent decades, the evidence on the impact of early discharge (ED) on healthy mothers and term newborns after vaginal deliveries (VD) is still inconclusive and little is known on the characteristics of those discharged early. We conducted a population-based study in Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) during 2005-2015, to investigate the mean LoS and the percentage of LoS longer than our proposed ED benchmarks following VD: 2 days after spontaneous vaginal deliveries (SVD) and 3 days post instrumental vaginal deliveries (IVD). We employed a multivariable logistic as well as a linear regression model, adjusting for a considerable number of factors pertaining to health-care setting and timeframe, maternal health factors, newborn clinical factors, obstetric history factors, socio-demographic background and present obstetric conditions. Results were expressed as odds ratios (OR) and regression coefficients (RC) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI). The adjusted mean LoS was calculated by level of pregnancy risk (high vs. low). Due to a very high number of multiple tests performed we employed the procedure proposed by Benjamini-Hochberg (BH) as a further selection criterion to calculate the BH p-value for the respective estimates. During 2005-2015, the average LoS in FVG was 2.9 and 3.3 days after SVD and IVD respectively, and the pooled regional proportion of LoS?>?ED was 64.4% for SVD and 32.0% for IVD. The variation of LoS across calendar years was marginal for both vaginal delivery modes (VDM). The adjusted mean LoS was higher in IVD than SVD, and although a decline of LoS?>?ED and mean LoS over time was observed for both VDM, there was little variation of the adjusted mean LoS by nationality of the woman and by level of pregnancy risk (high vs. low). By contrast, the adjusted figures for hospitals with shortest (centres A and G) and longest (centre B) mean LoS were 2.3 and 3.4 days respectively, among "low risk" pregnancies. The corresponding figures for "high risk" pregnancies were 2.5 days for centre A/G and 3.6 days for centre B. Therefore, the shift from "low" to "high" risk pregnancies in all three latter centres (A, B and G) increased the mean adjusted LoS just by 0.2 days. By contrast, the discrepancy between maternity centres with highest and lowest adjusted mean LoS post SVD (hospital B vs. A/G) was 1.1 days both among "low risk" (1.1 = 3.4-2.3 days) and "high risk" (1.1 = 3.6-2.5) pregnanices. Similar patterns were obseved also for IVD. Our adjusted regression models confirmed that maternity centres were the main explanatory factor for LoS after childbirth in both VDM. Therefore, health and clinical factors were less influential than practice patterns in determining LoS after VD. Hospitalization and discharge policies following childbirth in FVG should follow standardized guidelines, to be enforced at hospital level. Any prolonged LoS post VD (LoS?>?ED) should be reviewed and audited if need be. Primary care services within the catchment areas of the maternity centres of FVG should be improved to implement the follow up of puerperae undergoing ED after VD.
| S-EPMC7136236 | biostudies-literature
Project description:'Glera' and 'Ribolla Gialla' are the most economically relevant local grapevine cultivars of Friuli Venezia Giulia region (north-eastern Italy). 'Glera' is used to produce the world-renowned Prosecco wine. 'Ribolla Gialla' cultivation is constantly increasing due to the strong demand for sparkling wine and is the most important variety in Brda (Slovenia). Knowledge of local varieties history in terms of migration and pedigree relationships has scientific and marketing appeal. Following prospections, genotyping and ampelographic characterization of minor germplasm in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a further research was developed to understand the parentage relationships among the grapevine varieties grown in this region. An integrated strategy was followed combining the analysis of nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites with the Vitis 18k SNP chip. Two main recurrent parents were found, which can be regarded as "founders": 'Vulpea', an Austrian variety parent-offspring related with at least ten Friuli Venezia Giulia cultivars, among them 'Glera', and 'Refosco Nostrano', first degree related with other six Friuli Venezia Giulia varieties. 'Ribolla Gialla' was shown to be another member of the impressively long list of offspring derived from the prolific 'Heunisch Weiss'. Combining molecular markers and historical references was a high-performance strategy for retracing and adjusting the history of cultivars.
| S-EPMC7190720 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Births by cesarean section (CS) usually require longer recovery time, and as a result women remain hospitalized longer following CS than vaginal delivery (VD). A number of strategies have been proposed to reduce avoidable health care costs associated with childbirth. Among these, the containment of length of hospital stay (LoS) has been identified as an important quality indicator of obstetric care and performance efficiency of maternity centres. Since improvement of obstetric care at hospital level needs quantitative evidence, we compared the maternity services of an Italian region on LoS post CS. METHODS:We conducted a population-based study in Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG), a region of North-Eastern Italy, collecting data from all its 12 maternity centres (coded from A to K) during 2005-2015. We fitted a multivariable logistic regression using LoS as a binary outcome, higher/lower than the international early discharge (ED) cutoffs for CS (4 days), controlling for hospitals as well as several factors related to the clinical conditions of the mothers and the newborn, the obstetric history and socio-demographic background. Results were expressed as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI). Population attributable risks (PARs) were also calculated as proportional variation of LoS>ED for each hospital in the ideal scenario of having the same performance as centre J (the reference) during calendar year 2015. Results were expressed as PAR with 95%CI. Differences in mean LoS were also investigated with a multivariable linear regression model including the same explanatory factors of the above multiple logistic regression. Results were expressed as adjusted regression coefficients (aRC) with 95%CI. RESULTS:Although decreasing over the years (5.0 ± 1.7 days in 2005 vs. 4.4 ± 1.7 days in 2015), the pooled mean LoS in the whole FVG during these 11 years was still 4.7 ± 1.7 days, higher than respective international ED benchmark. The significant decreasing trend of LoS>ED over time in FVG (aOR = 0.89; 95%CI: 0.88; 0.90) was marginal as compared to the variability of LoS>ED observed among the various maternity services. Regardless it was expressed as aRC or aOR, LoS after CS was lowest in hospital C, highest in hospital D and intermediate in centres I, K, G, F, A, H, E, B and J (in descending order). The aOR of LoS being longer than ED ranged from 1.63 (95%CI:1.46; 1.81) in hospital B up to 32.09 (95%CI: 25.68; 40.10) in facility D. When hospitals were ranked by PAR the same pattern was found, even if restricting the analysis to low risk pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS:Although significantly decreasing over time, the mean LoS in FVG during 2005-2015 was 4.7 days, higher than the international threshold recommended for CS. There was substantial variability in LoS by facility centre, suggesting that internal organizational processes of single hospitals should be improved by enforcing standardized guidelines and using audits, economic incentives and penalties if need be.
| S-EPMC6392330 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Triterpene acid and phenolic constituents from nine ancient varieties of apple (Malus domestica) fruits cultivated in Fanna, Friuli Venezia Giulia region, northeast Italy, were analyzed and compared with four commercial apples ('Golden Delicious', 'Red Delicious', 'Granny Smith' and 'Royal Gala'). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were measured by spectrophotometric assays. The quali-quantitative fingerprint of secondary metabolites including triterpene acid was obtained by LC-DAD-(ESI)-MS and LC-(APCI)-MS, respectively. Based on the two LC-MS datasets, multivariate analysis was used to compare the composition of ancient fruit varieties with those of four commercial apples. Significant differences related mainly to the pattern of triterpene acids were found. Pomolic, euscaphyc, maslinic and ursolic acids are the most abundant triterpene in ancient varieties pulps and peels, while ursolic and oleanolic acids were prevalent in the commercial fruits. Also, the content of the phenolic compounds phloretin-2-O-xyloglucoside and quercetin-3-O-arabinoside was greater in ancient apple varieties. The antioxidant (radical scavenging, reducing power, metal chelating and phosphomolybdenum assays) and enzyme inhibitory effects (against cholinesterase, tyrosinase, amylase and glucosidase) of the samples were investigated in vitro. Antioxidant assays showed that the peels were more active than pulps. However, all the samples exhibited similar enzyme inhibitory effects. Ancient Friuli Venezia Giulia apple cultivars can be a source of chlorogenic acid and various triterpene acids, which are known for their potential anti-inflammatory activity and beneficial effects on lipid and glucose metabolism. Our results make these ancient varieties suitable for the development of new nutraceutical ingredients.
| S-EPMC6471914 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8115657 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an evidence-based early intervention model for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is crucial to investigate the feasibility of the ESDM in community settings in contexts that are culturally different from American universities in which the model was originally developed. The aim was to further evaluate the effectiveness of the ESDM delivered within the Italian community setting at low intensity. We compared a group aged 19 to 43 months receiving the ESDM for 2 h per week over the course of 1 year with a concurrent, comparable, non-randomized control group receiving treatment as usual (TAU). Children were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after 6 months (T1) and 12 months (T2) of intervention. Feasibility was evaluated by parent and therapist questionnaires, retention rate, and therapist treatment fidelity. Both groups made similar gains in cognition and language abilities. The ESDM group made larger improvement in domains measured by the ESDM Curriculum Checklist, including communication, social skills, and maladaptive behaviors. Feasibility seemed well supported by retentions, therapists and parent satisfaction, and treatment fidelity. Our study further supports the feasibility of the ESDM implemented within the Italian public health system and suggests a better response in the ESDM-treated group than in the control group.
| S-EPMC8464931 | biostudies-literature