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Objective: Group norms and drinking motives are crucial predictors of adolescents’ alcohol intake. The current study examined the role of drinking motives in the association between descriptive group norms and alcohol intake. Method: A sample of 525 Italian adolescents (56% men) was surveyed. Participants completed measures of group norms, drinking motives, and personal drinking. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that stronger group norms were positively related to increased alcohol intake. Drinking for enhancement and social motives also were related to increased alcohol intake. Mediation analysis showed that group norms were related to alcohol intake through social and enhancement drinking motives. Conclusions: Drinking motives provide fruitful insights into the relationship between descriptive group norms and excessive alcohol use among adolescents. Implications for future research are discussed.

Background: Patients with a thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenoma (TSHoma) are exposed to unregulated and inappropriately high levels of thyrotropin (TSH). Given the rarity of this condition, it is not known whether this chronic TSH stimulation of the thyroid gland might represent a risk factor for the development of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). We analyzed the incidence of DTC in a large cohort of patients with TSHomas. Methods: The study population consisted of all consecutive patients who underwent neurosurgery for a TSHoma between 1990 and 2013. Criteria for the diagnosis of TSHoma in patients without previous thyroid ablative procedures included elevated free thyroid hormones and normal/high serum TSH concentrations, presence of a lesion at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and abnormal response of TSH to at least one dynamic test. Patients who had received thyroid ablative procedures were required to have a pituitary lesion on MRI and TSH levels not suppressed while on levothyroxine therapy at doses causing elevation of free thyroid hormone levels. Results: Sixty-two patients (32 females, 30 males) underwent surgery for a TSHoma at our center. Among them, 3 patients had a coexistent diagnosis of DTC with an estimated incidence of 4.8%. In 2 patients, DTC was diagnosed during the evaluation for suspected TSH-dependent hyperthyroidism, whereas in the third patient, diagnosis of DTC preceded the detection of the pituitary tumor. Conclusions: The elevated incidence of DTC in patients with TSHoma suggests a possible role of TSH hypersecretion in the development of thyroid tumors. A formal high-resolution ultrasound of the thyroid is recommended in patients diagnosed with a TSHoma, especially if a long history of the pituitary tumor is suspected. Moreover, suspicion about the presence of TSHoma should be raised by the lack of suppression of TSH levels despite adequate doses of levothyroxine after thyroidectomy for DTC. © 2015 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

In recent decades, the increase in life expectancy stimulated the study of aging processes and the search for candidate genes involved in longevity. The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), present in all endothelial cells, plays an essential role in maintaining the homeostasis of blood flow by regulating the production of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin II and inactivating the bradykinin. Some studies reported a possible association between the polymorphism I/D of ACE gene and either hypertension and longevity. The present study was aimed to confirm these data. We studied two large cohorts of nonagenarians and centenarians. One was from Sardinia (200 subjects, 88 males, mean age: 96 years) and their data were compared to a group of 222 subjects (106 males, mean age: 44 years) from the general population of the same geographic area. The latter group of longeve subjects (161 subjects, 71 males, mean age: 97 years) was from Southern Italy. Furthermore, we studied 146 hypertensive patients (98 males, mean age: 51 years) and 172 normotensive subjects (86 males, mean age: 33 years) from Southern Italy. The ACE I/D polymorphism was typed by polymerase chain reaction; the amplified 490 bp (allele I) and 190 bp (allele D) were visualized on 2% agarose gel. Hypertensive subjects had a significantly different distribution of ACE genotypes as compared to normotensive ones (P=0.001) and a higher frequency of the D/D genotype. Long-lived subjects from Sardinia showed a significantly different distribution of ACE genotypes as compared to subjects from the general population of the same geographic area (P

In recent decades, the increase in life expectancy stimulated the study of aging processes and the search for candidate genes involved in longevity. The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), present in all endothelial cells, plays an essential role in maintaining the homeostasis of blood flow by regulating the production of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin II and inactivating the bradykinin. Some studies reported a possible association between the polymorphism I/D of ACE gene and either hypertension and longevity. The present study was aimed to confirm these data. We studied two large cohorts of nonagenarians and centenarians. One was from Sardinia (200 subjects, 88 males, mean age: 96 years) and their data were compared to a group of 222 subjects (106 males, mean age: 44 years) from the general population of the same geographic area. The latter group of longeve subjects (161 subjects, 71 males, mean age: 97 years) was from Southern Italy. Furthermore, we studied 146 hypertensive patients (98 males, mean age: 51 years) and 172 normotensive subjects (86 males, mean age: 33 years) from Southern Italy. The ACE I/D polymorphism was typed by polymerase chain reaction; the amplified 490 bp (allele I) and 190 bp (allele D) were visualized on 2% agarose gel. Hypertensive subjects had a significantly different distribution of ACE genotypes as compared to normotensive ones (P=0.001) and a higher frequency of the D/D genotype. Long-lived subjects from Sardinia showed a significantly different distribution of ACE genotypes as compared to subjects from the general population of the same geographic area (P

Introduzione A partire dal 2011 è stato registrato un forte incremento degli isolamenti di A. baumannii resistente ai carbapenemi negli ospedali dell'Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Trieste. Questo lavoro ha avuto lo scopo di verificare l’appartenenza degli isolati ad un unico clone epidemico, di individuarne il meccanismo di resistenza ai carbapenemi e di studiare i fattori che ne hanno favorito la diffusione. Metodi Identificazione e antibiogramma degli isolati sono stati eseguiti con il sistema Vitek 2 e le MIC estese sono state valutate con il test di microdiluizione in brodo. La tipizzazione è stata effettuata mediante macrorestrizione del DNA genomico con ApaI. I geni delle beta-lattamasi e delle 16S rRNA metilasi sono stati cercati mediante PCR. Il consumo di antibiotici sistemici è stato valutato in dose definita giornaliera (DDD) x 100 giornate di degenza. Risultati la tipizzazione ha confermato la diffusione di un ceppo di A. baumannii appartenente al complesso clonale 2. Tutti gli isolati ad esso correlati erano multiresistenti, ma conservavano la suscettibilità alla colistina e MIC ≤2 per la tigeciclina. La resistenza ai carbapenemi (MIC di imipenem=16-32 μg/ml) era riconducibile alla presenza del gene blaOXA-23, compreso tra due copie con orientamento opposto della sequenza d’inserzione ISAba1. L’alto livello di resistenza agli aminoglicosidici ha indotto a sospettare la presenza di una 16S rRNA metilasi, il cui determinante (armA) è stato poi individuato mediante PCR. Il confronto con isolati resistenti ai carbapenemi, raccolti nei cinque anni antecedenti al periodo di studio, ha dimostrato che il ceppo responsabile dell’epidemia è stato isolato per la prima volta nell’ospedale all’inizio del 2009 ed ha causato un piccolo numero di infezioni in vari reparti fino alla primavera 2011. La diffusione massiccia ha avuto luogo tra giugno ed agosto 2011, a partire da un reparto dell’area di medicina. Il coinvolgimento di altri reparti è correlabile, almeno nelle fasi iniziali dell’epidemia, con il trasferimento di pazienti infetti o colonizzati. Tra il 2008 ed il 2011, il consumo di antibiotici sistemici negli ospedali dell’Azienda è aumentato del 16% e quello di carbapenemi del 73%. Gli incremento hanno interessato soprattutto i reparti dell’area medica. Conclusioni Lo studio dimostra la diffusione nell’ospedale triestino di un ceppo di A. baumannii, portatore del gene blaOXA-23 e di armA, già segnalato in precedenza nel Nord Europa e in un ospedale del Nord Italia.

Clear evidence exists for heritability of humanlongevity, and much interest is focused on identifying genes associated with longer lives. To identify such longevity alleles, we performed the largest genome-wide linkage scan thus far reported. Linkage analyses included 2118nonagenarian Caucasian sibling pairs that have been enrolled in 15 study centers of 11 European countries as part of the Genetics of Healthy Aging (GEHA) project. In the joint linkage analyses, we observed four regions that show linkage with longevity; chromosome 14q11.2 (LOD = 3.47), chromosome 17q12-q22 (LOD = 2.95), chromosome 19p13.3-p13.11 (LOD = 3.76), and chromosome 19q13.11-q13.32 (LOD = 3.57). To fine map these regions linked to longevity, we performed association analysis using GWAS data in a subgroup of 1228 unrelated nonagenarian and 1907 geographically matched controls. Using a fixed-effect meta-analysis approach, rs4420638 at the TOMM40/ APOE/APOC1 gene locus showed significant association with longevity (P-value = 9.6 × 10 -8). By combined modeling of linkage and association, we showed that association of longevity with APOEe4 and APOEe2 alleles explain the linkage at 19q13.11-q13.32 with P-value = 0.02 and P-value = 1.0 × 10 -5, respectively. In the largest linkage scan thus far performed for human familial longevity, we confirm that the APOE locus is a longevity gene and that additional longevity loci may be identified at 14q11.2, 17q12-q22, and 19p13.3-p13.11. As the latter linkage results are not explained by common variants, we suggest that rare variants play an important role in human familial longevity.

Journal URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/nyas