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OBJECTIVE: Human brucellosis is a zoonosis with an extremely wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Focal splenic involvement is very uncommon, particularly in the pediatric age group, during the illness' acute phase. CASE REPORT: A 4-year-old boy, already receiving third-generation cephalosporin treatment, was transferred from a local hospital to the University Pediatric Department for fever, anemia, increased inflammation index, and multiple, hyper-echogenic splenic lesions on abdominal ultrasound. Initial diagnostic laboratory investigations for Brucella infection, including the Widal-Wright test, were found to be negative. However, further diagnostic laboratory analysis using the chemiluminescent immunoassay was positive for Brucella IgM antibodies. Treatment with rifampicin at a dose of 150 mg/Kg/twice daily and co-trimethoprim at a dose of 80 mg/Kg/twice daily was started and continued for 7 weeks. IgM antibodies were undetectable after 2 weeks of treatment, and after 6 weeks of treatment, abdominal ultrasound documented a reduction of the diameter of the major splenic infiltrate from 1 to 0.5 cm. At 3 and 5 months of follow-up, re-evaluation of the abdominal lesions displayed complete resolution of the splenic lesions and a complete clinical recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The present case and a literature review are presented in this study since a standard diagnostic laboratory evaluation for brucellosis may miss the diagnosis, and in suspected cases, the laboratory analysis should be extended. Splenic abscesses are known to be rare in brucellosis, but the diagnosis should be considered in children with severe focal lesions, as specific antibiotic treatment may result in complete clinical recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a diet with high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (480 mg/megajoule) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) (50 mg/megajoule) in the control of clinical signs in dogs with atopic dermatitis. Selection of dogs with atopic dermatitis occurred according to a strict protocol; dogs with ectoparasites, endoparasites, dermatophytosis, Malassezia infection, active flea allergy dermatitis, hypothyroidism or food allergy were excluded, as well as dogs currently treated with hyposensitization, glucocorticoids, antihistamines, NSAIDs and dietary fatty acid supplements. Dogs were only selected if they met the diagnostic criteria for atopy and when atopy was confirmed by a positive intradermal test correlating with the history and clinical signs. During the entire study, flea control was applied and secondary pyoderma or Malassezia infections were controlled with antibiotics or topically applied lotions. The owners were informed that the diet and/or capsules might be treatment or placebo. The dogs received either a treatment with the test diet plus a daily placebo capsule, or the dog's usual diet plus a daily placebo capsule for a period of 10 weeks. The treatment diet provided 240 mg EPA/kg metabolic weight and 25 mg GLA/kg metabolic weight. Owners who judged that the treatment during the study had not been effective could participate in a double-blinded crossover period during which the dog received another treatment. At the start and end of the study, the severity of the following clinical signs was scored: pruritus, shedding, scaling, dry skin, erythema, smell of coat and alopecia. In total, 13 dogs received the control treatment and 15 dogs the test diet. Of the 13 control dogs, nine followed a crossover period on the test diet, which brought the total number of dogs on the diet to 24. The score after 10 weeks of treatment was expressed as percentage of the score at week 0. After 10 weeks of treatment, scores for intensity, frequency and total score for pruritus in dogs fed the test diet were significantly lower than scores for the control dogs ( P = 0.005, P = 0.013, P = 0.005, respectively); the average score was reduced to 67, 65 and 53% of the initial score, respectively. For dogs on the diet, the score for erythema was significantly lower than the score from the control dogs ( P = 0.019) and was reduced to 66% of the initial score. Thirteen of the 24 owners of the dogs fed the test diet (54%) indicated that the skin and coat condition of their dog had improved compared to four of 13 control dogs (31%, P = 0.030). The dogs’ plasma and cutaneous fatty acid compositions changed significantly on the test diet and were similar for responders and nonresponders. From this study, it can be concluded that a diet with high levels of EPA and GLA is effective in the reduction of pruritus and erythema in dogs with atopic dermatitis, but that not all dogs respond to the diet. Funding: LEO Animal Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: different studies revealed strong correlation between smoking cessation and a worsening of the diet, whose consequence include loss of appetite, weight loss, etc., Objective: the objective of FoodRec project is to exploit technology to monitor the dietary habits of people during their smoke quitting process, catching relevant changes which can affect the patient health and the success of the process. This work was an uncontrolled pre-test post-test open pilot study in which an interdisciplinary group created an app for food recognition (FoodRec) to monitor their mood status and dietary habits during the test period., Methods: participants used the FoodRec App for two consecutive weeks for usability and suitability assessment. Tests included 149 smokers involved in a smoke quitting process, aged between 19 and 80. For the quantitative test, data were analyzed regarding users features, meals uploads, mood states and drink intakes. For the qualitative test, a user evaluation test of the app has been performed with four assignments being carried out on a group of 50 participants., Results: the App was perceived as extremely user-friendly and lightweight. It also turned out to be useful in the perception of users' dietary habits and helpful in relieving the stress of a food intake reduction process., Conclusion: this work investigated the role and impact of the FoodRec App in a large international and multicultural context. The experience gained in the current study will be used to modify and refine the large international RCT protocol version of the app., Competing Interests: Riccardo Polosa is full tenured professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Catania (Italy) and Medical Director of the Institute for Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology at the same University. In relation to his recent work in the area of respiratory diseases, clinical immunology, and tobacco control, RP has received lecture fees and research funding from Pfizer, Glax-oSmithKline, CV Therapeutics, NeuroSearch A/S, Sandoz, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Duska Therapeutics, and Forest Laboratories. Lecture fees from a number of European EC industry and trade associations (including FIVAPE in France and FIESEL in Italy) were directly donated to vaper advocacy no-profit organizations. RP has also received grants from European Commission initiatives (U-BIOPRED and AIRPROM) and from the Integral Rheumatology & Immunology Specialists Network (IRIS) initiative. He has also served as a consultant for Pfizer, Global Health Alliance for treatment of tobacco dependence, CV Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Duska Therapeutics, ECITA (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association, in the UK), Arbi Group Srl., Health Diplomats, and Sermo Inc. RP has served on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Cordex Pharma, Inc., CV Therapeutics, Duska Therapeutics Inc, Pfizer, and PharmaCielo. RP is also founder of the Center for Tobacco prevention and treatment (CPCT) at the University of Catania and of the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR) at the same University, which has received support from Foundation for a Smoke Free World to conduct 8 independent investigator-initiated research projects on harm reduction. RP is currently in-volved in a patent application concerning an app tracker for smoking behavior developed for ECLAT Srl. RP is also currently involved in the following pro bono activities: scientific advisor for LIAF, Lega Italiana Anti Fumo (Italian acronym for Italian Anti-Smoking League), the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives (CASAA) and the International Network of Nicotine Consumers Organizations (INNCO); Chair of the European Technical Committee for standardization on “Requirements and test methods for emissions of electronic cigarettes” (CEN/TC 437; WG4). Pasquale Caponnetto initiated research supported by GRAND (Global Research Award for Nico-tine Dependence) an independently reviewed competitive grants program funded by Pfizer Inc (US). The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

In recent years, the automotive field has been changed by the accelerated rise of new technologies. Specifically, autonomous driving has revolutionized the car manufacturer's approach to design the advanced systems compliant to vehicle environments. As a result, there is a growing demand for the development of intelligent technology in order to make modern vehicles safer and smarter. The impact of such technologies has led to the development of the so-called Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), suitable to maintain control of the vehicle in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations while driving. Several studies confirmed that an inadequate driver's physiological condition could compromise the ability to drive safely. For this reason, assessing the car driver's physiological status has become one of the primary targets of the automotive research and development. Although a large number of efforts has been made by researchers to design safety-assessment applications based on the detection of physiological signals, embedding them into a car environment represents a challenging task. These mentioned implications triggered the development of this study in which we proposed an innovative pipeline, that through a combined less invasive Neuro-Visual approach, is able to reconstruct the car driver's physiological status. Specifically, the proposed contribution refers to the sampling and processing of the driver PhotoPlethysmoGraphic (PPG) signal. A parallel enhanced low frame-rate motion magnification algorithm is used to reconstruct such features of the driver's PhotoPlethysmoGraphic (PPG) data when that signal is no longer available from the native embedded sensor platform. A parallel monitoring of the driver's blood pressure levels from the PPG signal as well as the driver's eyes dynamics completes the reconstruction of the driver's physiological status. The proposed pipeline has been tested in one of the major investigated automotive scenarios i.e., the detection and monitoring of pedestrians while driving (pedestrian tracking). The collected performance results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approach., Competing Interests: FR was employed by the company STMicroelectronics. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Rundo, Conoci, Spampinato, Leotta, Trenta and Battiato.)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons and causes progressive physical impairment. Also, other functions, such as breathing, swallowing and speech are compromised, and the loss of independence makes caregiver burden extremely high. The present study aimed at evaluating the differences in the caregiver burden due to age, gender and kinship. Women reported a higher physical and social burden than men, and partners scored higher in several dimensions of the caregiver burden when compared to sons and daughters. With respect to adult child caregivers, daughters reported higher levels of developmental burden than sons. Age has a significant impact on the caregiver burden, especially for the time dedicated to assistance and physical burden; disease severity is significantly related to the physical burden as well, and also with the developmental burden.

Macrophage aggregates (MA) occur in various organs of fish as discrete aggregations of pigmented macrophages. The study presented herein investigates the quantitative modifications from normal anatomical condition, of interrenal gland (IG) and kidney MA in six treatment groups of adult rainbow trout submitted to either specific or aspecific immune stimulation and subsequently challenged with Yersinia ruckeri. Routinely stained tissue sections from both IG and kidney were analysed. The percentage of tissues occupied by MA and the MA density (number/mm(2)) were calculated on at least 10 randomly selected nonoverlapping fields taken from each tissue section. MA morphometric findings from challenged fish were compared to those from a control group. Results showed that fish from control group displayed a statistically significant (P < 0.05) higher percentage of tissue occupied by MA and MA density. Among different treatment groups, anti-Yersinia ruckeri immunized fish, which did not show clinical signs of disease after bacterial challenge, displayed higher values of morphometric parameters compared with symptomatic fish from other groups. Our study demonstrates that the quantification of the area occupied by MA might be an efficient parameter to evaluate the general condition of a salmonid population since it positively correlates with the health status and negatively with stress factor such as the acute bacterial infection.