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Influenza A virus (IAV) can cause high morbidity and mortality in domestic and wild avian species and it is able to infect mammals as well. IAV in cats is sporadic and self-limiting but the recent findings of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) with genetic signatures of mammalian adaptation, in domestic cats, has raised new concerns about the potential role of cats in the virus ecology. The present study aimed to investigate the circulation of IAV in companion animals' shelters in North-eastern Italy. All samples were collected from feral cats living in feline colonies that were hosted in the companion animals' shelters for the requisite period to administer the veterinary treatments. Between 2021 and 2022, 389 oropharyngeal swabs and 279 sera were collected. All swabs tested negative for IAV and the only one ELISA positive serum sample resulted H5 positive by HI test with a titer of 1:80. Despite the sporadic occurrence of influenza in cats, continuous monitoring is crucial due to the evolving zoonotic nature of the virus.

BackgroundCarotid endarterectomy (CEA) for the prevention of upcoming vascular and cerebral events is necessary in patients with high-grade stenosis (≥70%). In the framework of the Italian National project Age.It, a pilot study was proposed aiming at the discovery of a molecular signature with predictive potential of carotid stenosis comparing 65+ asymptomatic and symptomatic inpatients.MethodsA total of 42 inpatients have been enrolled, including 26 men and 16 women, with a mean age of 74 ± 6 years. Sixteen symptomatic and 26 asymptomatic inpatients with ≥70% carotid stenosis underwent CEA, according to the recommendations of the European Society for Vascular Surgery and the Society for Vascular Surgeons. Plaque biopsies and peripheral blood samples from the same individuals were obtained. Hematobiochemical analyses were conducted on all inpatients, and plasma cytokines/molecules, such as microRNAs (miRs), IL-6, sIL-6Ralpha, sgp130, myostatin (GDF8), follistatin, activin A, CXCL9, FGF21, and fibronectin, were measured using the ELISA standard technique. MiR profiles were obtained in the discovery phase including four symptomatic and four asymptomatic inpatients (both plasma and plaque samples), testing 734 miRs. MiRs emerging from the profiling comparison were validated through RT-qPCR analysis in the total cohort.Results and conclusionThe two groups of inpatients differ in the expression levels of blood c-miRs-126–5p and -1271–5p (but not in their plaques), which are more expressed in symptomatic subjects. Three cytokines were significant between the two groups: IL-6, GDF8, and CXCL9. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with a machine learning-based approach, the most significant blood molecular signature encompasses albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), the percentage of monocytes, and CXCL9, allowing for the distinction of the two groups (AUC = 0.83, 95% c.i. [0.85, 0.81], p = 0.0028). The potential of the molecular signature will be tested in a second cohort of monitored patients, allowing the application of a predictive model and the final evaluation of cost/benefit for an assessable screening test.

Objective: The management of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome type III (CP/CPPS) has been always considered complex due to several biopsychological factors underlying the disease. In this clinical study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment with Palmitoylethanolamide, Epilobium and Calendula extract in patients with CP/CPPS III. Materials and methods: From June 2023 to July 2023, we enrolled 45 consecutive patients affected by CP/CPPS type III in three different institution. We included patients aged between 18 and 75 years with symptoms of pelvic pain for 3 months or more before the study, a total National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) score ≥ 12 point and diagnosed with NIH category III, according to 4-glass test Meares-Stamey test. Patients were then allocated to receive rectal suppositories of PEA, Epilobium and Calendula, 1 suppository/ die for 1 month. All patients have been tested with standard urinalysis in order to assess urinary leukocytes (U-WBC). The primary endpoint of the study was the reduction of NIHCPSI. The secondary outcomes were the change of peak flow, post-void residual (PVR), IIEF-5, VAS score, PSA and decrease of U-WBC. Results: A total of 45 patients concluded the study protocol. At baseline, the median age of all the patients included in the cohort was 49 years, the median PSA was 2.81 ng/mL, the median NIH-CPSI was 18.55, the median IIEF-5 was 18.27, the median U-WBC was 485.3/mmc, the median VAS score was 6.49, the median PVR was 26.5 mL and the median peak flow was 16.3 mL/s. After 1 month of therapy we observed a statistically significant improvement of NIH-CPSI, U-WBC, PSA, IIEF-5, peak flow, PVR and VAS. Conclusions: In this observational study, we showed the clinical efficacy of the treatment with PEA, Epilobium and Calendula, 1 suppository/die for 1 month, in patients with CP/CPPS III. The benefits of this treatment could be related to the reduction of inflammatory cells in the urine that could imply a reduction of inflammatory cytokines. These results should be confirmed in further studies with greater sample size.

This paper provides novel evidence on how a sharp increase in labor force participation among older women affects the provision of informal care to their older parents. Based on data from Understanding Society -- The UK Household Longitudinal Study, we use an instrumental variable approach that exploits a unique reform that increased the female State Pension age by up to six years. Our results provide evidence of a trade-off between the intensive margin of work and informal care provided outside the household: an increase of 10 hours of work per week reduces the provision of informal care by 2.1 hours a week, which amounts to roughly £2,100 of yearly care-hours lost. This reduction in caregiving is largest among women working in physically or psychosocially demanding jobs, and "sandwich generation" women who have both a living grandchild and a parent alive. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we show that older parents whose daughters became ineligible to claim their pensions experienced a significant reduction in the amount of care they receive from their daughters, which was not compensated by an increase in formal care or other sources of support. Our results suggest that policies that increase older workers' labor supply require changes in long-term care policy that compensate for the loss of informal care.

Aquafeed’s contamination by microplastics can pose a risk to fish health and quality since they can be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract and translocate to different tissues. The liver acts as a retaining organ with the consequent triggering of oxidative stress response. The present study aimed to combine the use of natural astaxanthin with natural-based microcapsules to counteract these negative side effects. European seabass juveniles were fed diets containing commercially available fluorescent microplastic microbeads (1–5 μm; 50 mg/kg feed) alone or combined with microencapsulated astaxanthin (AX) (7 g/kg feed; tested for half or whole feeding trial—30 or 60 days, respectively). Fish from the different dietary treatments did not evidence variations in survival and growth performance and did not show pathological alterations at the intestinal level. However, the microplastics were absorbed at the intestinal level with a consequent translocation to the liver, leading, when provided solely, to sod1, sod2, and cat upregulation. Interestingly, the dietary implementation of microencapsulated AX led to a mitigation of oxidative stress. In addition, the microcapsules, due to their composition, promoted microplastic coagulation in the fish gut, limiting their absorption and accumulation in all the tissues analyzed. These results were supported by in vitro tests, which demonstrated that the microcapsules promoted microplastic coagula formation too large to be absorbed at the intestinal level and by the fact that the coagulated microplastics were released through the fish feces.

MRI-based cartilage compositional analysis shows biochemical and microstructural changes at early stages of osteoarthritis before changes become visible with structural MRI sequences and arthroscopy. This could help with early diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment monitoring of osteoarthritis. Spin-lattice relaxation time constant in rotating frame (T1ρ) and T2 mapping are the MRI techniques best established for assessing cartilage composition. Only T2 mapping is currently commercially available, which is sensitive to water, collagen content, and orientation of collagen fibers, whereas T1ρ is more sensitive to proteoglycan content. Clinical application of cartilage compositional imaging is limited by high variability and suboptimal reproducibility of the biomarkers, which was the motivation for creating the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA) Profile for cartilage compositional imaging by the Musculoskeletal Biomarkers Committee of the QIBA. The profile aims at providing recommendations to improve reproducibility and to standardize cartilage compositional imaging. The QIBA Profile provides two complementary claims (summary statements of the technical performance of the quantitative imaging biomarkers that are being profiled) regarding the reproducibility of biomarkers. First, cartilage T1ρ and T2 values are measurable at 3.0-T MRI with a within-subject coefficient of variation of 4%-5%. Second, a measured increase or decrease in T1ρ and T2 of 14% or more indicates a minimum detectable change with 95% confidence. If only an increase in T1ρ and T2 values is expected (progressive cartilage degeneration), then an increase of 12% represents a minimum detectable change over time. The QIBA Profile provides recommendations for clinical researchers, clinicians, and industry scientists pertaining to image data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation and assessment procedures for T1ρ and T2 cartilage imaging and test-retest conformance. This special report aims to provide the rationale for the proposed claims, explain the content of the QIBA Profile, and highlight the future needs and developments for MRI-based cartilage compositional imaging for risk prediction, early diagnosis, and treatment monitoring of osteoarthritis.