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A series of nine 2,3-disubstituted-quinazolin-4(3 H )-one derived Schiff bases and their three Cu(II) complexes was prepared and tested for their antimicrobial activities against reference strains Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and resistant clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis (VRE). All the substances were tested in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H 37 Ra ATCC 25177, M. kansasii DSM 44162 and M. smegmatis ATCC 700084. While anti-enterococcal and antimycobacterial activities were insignificant, 3-[( E )-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzylidene)amino]-2-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1 H )-one ( SB3 ) and its Cu(II) complex ( SB3-Cu ) demonstrated bacteriostatic antistaphylococcal activity. In addition, both compounds, as well as the other two prepared complexes, showed antibiofilm activity, which resulted in a reduction of biofilm formation and eradication of mature S. aureus biofilm by 80% even at concentrations lower than the values of their minimum inhibitory concentrations. In addition, the compounds were tested for their cytotoxic effect on the human monocytic leukemia cell line THP-1. The antileukemic efficiency was improved by the preparation of Cu(II) complexes from the corresponding non-chelated Schiff base ligands., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: To evaluate the treatment efficacy of uterine adenomyosis using MRgFUS as a mini-invasive therapy., Materials and Methods: Twenty-three patients affected by symptomatic uterine adenomyosis (11 focal and 7 diffuse forms), diagnosed using MRI, were included in this study. Eighteen out of 23 were submitted to MRgFUS. All junctional zone more than 12 mm in width were considered to be adenomyosis. Study evaluates the pre-treatment target volume measured prior to the treatment on the CE T1-weighted sequence and the MRgFUS-treated volume (MRgFUS-TV), represented by the volume of the lesion ablated, measured directly by means of the MRgFUS. The treated volume on the CE T1-weighted sequence (CE MRI-TV) was measured immediately after treatment. After 1 year, the junctional zone thickness was measured in order to compare pre- and post-treatment values. The therapeutic plan consisted of a high-energy-grid sonication. Symptomatology was assessed through the UFS-QOL., Results: The pre-treatment target volume mean value was of 59.7 cc; the MRgFUS-TV had a mean value of 44.9 cc, and the mean value of CE MRI-TV, measured immediately after treatment, was of 52.8 cc, with an increase of 13.7%. The 86.5% of the lesion was treated. After 1 year from the treatment, 15/18 (83%) patients showed thickness of the junctional zone <12 mm; 3/18 (17%) had a junctional zone >12 mm., Conclusion: MRgFUS is an encouraging mini-invasive treatment for adenomyosis that permits to maintain the integrity of the uterus in a pathology with limited therapeutic possibility.

Although influenza vaccination is recognized to be safe and effective, recent studies have confirmed that immunization coverage among health care workers remain generally low, especially among medical residents (MRs). Aim of the present multicenter study was to investigate attitudes and determinants associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among Italian MRs. A survey was performed in 2012 on MRs attending post-graduate schools of 18 Italian Universities. Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire including questions on attitudes regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 2506 MRs were recruited in the survey and 299 (11.9%) of these stated they had accepted influenza vaccination in 2011-2012 season. Vaccinated MRs were older (P = 0.006), working in clinical settings (P = 0.048), and vaccinated in the 2 previous seasons (P<0.001 in both seasons). Moreover, MRs who had recommended influenza vaccination to their patients were significantly more compliant with influenza vaccination uptake in 2011-2012 season (P<0.001). "To avoid spreading influenza among patients" was recognized as the main reason for accepting vaccination by less than 15% of vaccinated MRs. Italian MRs seem to have a very low compliance with influenza vaccination and they seem to accept influenza vaccination as a habit that is unrelated to professional and ethical responsibility. Otherwise, residents who refuse vaccination in the previous seasons usually maintain their behaviors. Promoting correct attitudes and good practice in order to improve the influenza immunization rates of MRs could represent a decisive goal for increasing immunization coverage among health care workers of the future.

Background: Although the Internet is easy to use, the mechanisms and logic behind a Web search are often unknown. Reliable information can be obtained, but it may not be visible as the Web site is not located in the first positions of search results. The possible risks of adverse health effects arising from environmental hazards are issues of increasing public interest, and therefore the information about these risks, particularly on topics for which there is no scientific evidence, is very crucial. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presentation of information on some environmental health topics differed among various search engines, assuming that the most reliable information should come from institutional Web sites., Materials and Methods: Five search engines were used: Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, and AOL. The following topics were searched in combination with the word "health": "nuclear energy," "electromagnetic waves," "air pollution," "waste," and "radon." For each topic three key words were used. The first 30 search results for each query were considered. The ranking variability among the search engines and the type of search results were analyzed for each topic and for each key word. The ranking of institutional Web sites was given particular consideration., Results: Variable results were obtained when surfing the Internet on different environmental health topics. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, when searching for radon and air pollution topics, it is more likely to find institutional Web sites in the first 10 positions compared with nuclear power (odds ratio=3.4, 95% confidence interval 2.1-5.4 and odds ratio=2.9, 95% confidence interval 1.8-4.7, respectively) and also when using Google compared with Bing (odds ratio=3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.9-5.1)., Conclusions: The increasing use of online information could play an important role in forming opinions. Web users should become more aware of the importance of finding reliable information, and health institutions should be able to make that information more visible.

Background: The 2009-10 influenza pandemic was a major public health concern. Vaccination was recommended by the health authorities, but compliance was not optimal and perception of the presumed associated risks was high among the public. The Internet is increasingly being used as a source of health information and advice. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of websites providing information about flu vaccine and the quality of the information provided., Methods: Website selection was performed in autumn 2010 by entering eight keywords in two of the most commonly used search engines (Google.com and Yahoo.com). The first three result pages were analysed for each search, giving a total of 480 occurrences. Page rank was evaluated to assess visibility. Websites based on Web 2.0 philosophy, websites merely displaying popular news/articles and single files were excluded from the subsequent analysis. We analysed the selected websites (using WHO criteria) as well as the information provided, using a codebook for pro/neutral websites and a qualitative approach for the adverse ones., Results: Of the 89 websites selected, 54 dealt with seasonal vaccination, three with anti-H1N1 vaccination and 32 with both. Rank analysis showed that only classic websites (ones not falling in any other category) and one social network were provided on the first pages by Yahoo; 21 classic websites, six displaying popular news/articles and one blog by Google. Analysis of the selected websites revealed that the majority of them (88.8%) had a positive/neutral attitude to flu vaccination. Pro/neutral websites distinguished themselves from the adverse ones by some revealing features like greater transparency, credibility and privacy protection., Conclusions: We found that the majority of the websites providing information on flu vaccination were pro/neutral and gave sufficient information. We suggest that antivaccinationist information may have been spread by a different route, such as via Web 2.0 tools, which may be more prone to the dissemination of "viral" information. The page ranking analysis revealed the crucial role of search engines regarding access to information on the Internet.