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Background: There is minimal information regarding sleep disturbance and burnout during COVID-19 in nurses working within haematology-oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) settings. Aim: To identify socio-demographic and professional factors that predicted burnout and sleep disturbance during COVID-19 in nurses working in HSCT settings. Design/Methods: Data were collected using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive statistics and linear regression examined relationships. Results: 308 responses were received. Nurses working in outpatient settings had greater emotional exhaustion (Rpartial = −0.12, n = 308, p = 0.03). Negative predictors for quality of sleep were transplant programme setting (Rpartial = −0.19, n = 308, p < 0.01) and years working in HSCT (Rpartial = −0.17, n = 308, p < 0.01). Other relationships were found on univariate analysis. Conclusion: Institutions must offer programmes for nurses to develop sleep strategies, self-care, and work-related stress management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonellosis is an infectious disease affecting both animals and humans. Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) and biofilm-producing Salmonella spp., frequently detected in reptiles (who can then act as asymptomatic carriers for warm-blooded animals), have developed resistance to biocides; this represents a warning for the emergence of biocide/antimicrobial cross-resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Thymus vulgaris L. essential oil (TEO) in inhibiting bacterial growth and biofilm production of Salmonella spp., which had been isolated from wild reptiles housed in a Zoo in Italy. The resistance profile against different classes of antibiotics showed that all the isolates were susceptible to the tested antibiotics, despite the presence of several AMR genes. All the isolates were also tested with aqueous solutions of TEO at different dilutions (5% to 0.039%). Interestingly, TEO proved effective both in inhibiting bacterial growth at low dilutions, with MIC and MBC values ranging between 0.078% and 0.312%, and in inhibiting biofilm production, with values ranging from 0.039% to 0.156%. TEO demonstrated effective bioactivity against the biofilm producer Salmonella spp., proving to be a valid disinfectant for the prevention of salmonellosis from reptiles, a possible source of infection for humans exposed to the reptiles' environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lentils (Lens culinaris spp.) are promising legumes whose seed coats, the by-products produced from dehulling, can represent a valuable source of functional components. This work aimed at valorizing lentils seed coat as functional ingredients, by investigating its profile across 11 genotypes grown in two different growing locations in Italy. The total phenolic, flavonoids, and condensed tannins contents (mg/g dry weight,) ranged from 30.60 to 70.37 gallic acid equivalents, 0.86 to 2.21 catechin equivalents, and 22.34 to 77.49 catechin equivalents, respectively. The untargeted phenolic profiling through UHPLC/QTOF-MS, followed by multivariate statistics, revealed differences in the quality and quantity of polyphenols. A broad and diverse profile could be highlighted, including 420 compounds, mainly ascribable to flavonoids, phenolic acids, and low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds. Unsupervised cluster analysis highlighted that origin is hierarchically more important than genotype in determining the phenolic profiles. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that color was only partially related to phenolic content, while the geographic location and the genotype were more relevant. The significant accumulation of phenolics in some genotypes suggests that the genetic background should be taken into account, when lentils seed coat is to be included in food design as a sustainable source of phenolic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Northern Italy was one of the first European territories to deal with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Drastic emergency restrictions were introduced to contain the spread and limit pressure on healthcare facilities. However, nurses were at high risk of developing physical, mental, and working issues due to professional exposure. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate these issues among nurses working in Italian hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were collected online immediately after the first "lockdown" period in order to investigate the prevalence of physical issues, sleep disorders, and burnout symptoms and explore correlations with COVID-19 territorial incidence in Northern Italian regions versus Central and Southern Italian regions. Results: Three hundred and eight nurses working in 61 Italian HSCT Units responded to the survey. Depression, cough, and fever were more frequently reported by nurses working in geographical areas less affected by the pandemic (p=0.0013, p<0.0001, and p=0.0005 respectively) as well as worst sleep quality (p=0.008). Moderate levels of emotional exhaustion (mean±SD - 17.4±13.0), depersonalization (5.3±6.1), and personal accomplishment (33.2±10.7) were reported without significant differences between territories. Conclusions: different COVID-19 incidence among territories did not influence nurses' burden of symptoms in the HSCT setting. However, burnout and insomnia levels should be considered by health care facilities in order to improve preventive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main point about quality is that companies are obliged to satisfy monsters. This is a concept that the author introduced 15 years ago in order to introduce Total Quality in Italy. The monsters are our customers. Customers are always human beings, but we know only to well that we are never satisfied. The best solution is to love the monsters. As stories show, the bad monster will, if loved enough, turn into a handsome prince or beautiful princess. If we are to love the monster, to gain his or her trust and to find better ways in which to meet his or her needs, we must transform our company into a gymnasium. The brains and hearts of everyone who works in this company should be exercised in this gym. For the brains, we have to transform our athletes in little 'scientists' For the hearts we need to pass from the traditional method of personnel management, which might in general terms be described as one based on 'control', towards management based on 'education'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Johne's disease (JD) is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causing important losses on dairy farms. In Italy, voluntary programs to control MAP infection in dairy cattle are implemented in the Northern part of the country, where several studies have been carried out. Conversely, the disease status has not been fully investigated in the Southern regions. The aims of this study were to (i) determine the herd-level true prevalence (HTP) and (ii) the conditional within herd animal-level prevalence (CWHP) of JD in selected dairy cattle herds in Southern Italy. Serum samples were taken from 27 farms and analysed using a commercial ELISA test. A Bayesian model was fitted to the data. The estimated posterior mean of HPT was 0.46 (89 % CI 0.25−0.67), while the mean CWHP was 0.03 (89 % CI: 0.012–0.045). The results presented in this study call for designing and implementing an effective JD control program at national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]