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The Transplant Centers belonging to Gruppo Italiano per il Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO) conducted a survey with the aim of evaluating the effect of SARS-CoV2 pandemic on the allogeneic transplant activity in Italy. The pandemic period from 1/3/2020 to 31/7/2020 was compared with the same period in 2019. Overall, in 2020 there was a 2.4% reduction in the number of allo-HCT cases compared to 2019. Interestingly, this deflection did not affect the acute leukemia cases (+5.7% in 2020). The use of peripheral blood-derived stem cells (+10.7%) and cryopreservation (97.4% of the centers) was highly adopted in 2020. Despite the sanitary emergency, almost all of the surveyed centers declared no impact of SARS-CoV2 pandemic on the transplant timing and outcomes, and the sanitary policy was positively evaluated by the majority of centers. The emergency measures ensured that only a minority of the allo-HCT patients had been infected by SARS-CoV2; however, a mortality of 42.1% among the allo-HCT patients hospitalized for COVID-19 was recorded. This survey gives us the information that the GITMO Group reacted positively to the pandemic. Thanks to the emergency strategies, the Italian allo-HCT activity continued safely, showing only a minor deflection and offering the same probability of cure to the transplanted patients.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of glucose control, diabetes-related complications and cardiometabolic risk factors on the risk of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and DFU complications in Albanian adult inpatients with T2D.We conducted a retrospective case-control study on 482 Albanian adult inpatients with T2D. DFU was defined as a full-thickness skin lesion requiring ≥14 days for healing and was classified at the time of hospital admission. Demographic and biochemical parameters of the study participants, the presence of comorbidities and diabetes-related complications at the time of hospital admission were evaluated through a retrospective chart review.Mean age of study participants was 54.8±10.7 years. Participants (284 males and 198 females) were divided into two groups: DFU (cases; n=104) and non-DFU (controls; n=378). Multivariate analysis (performed by a logistic regression model) revealed that the most relevant independent variables associated with DFU were BMI [OR=0.62; p=0.007], HDL-cholesterol [OR=0.00; p0.0001], triglycerides [OR=7.48; p=0.0004], cigarette smoking [OR=26.46; p=0.005], duration of diabetes [OR=1.53; p0.0001], fasting plasma glucose (FPG) [OR=1.06; p0.0001], systolic blood pressure (SBP) [OR=1.13; p=0.0004] and insulin therapy alone [OR=0.11; p=0.02]. ROC curve analysis showed that FPG (AUC=0.83), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (AUC=0.75), triglycerides (AUC=0.78) and HDL-cholesterol (AUC=0.82) were the most reliable biomarkers able to detect DFU. In the DFU group, the most relevant independent variables associated with previous minor lower-extremity amputations (LEAs) were represented by HbA1c [OR=1.47; p=0.03], age55 years [OR=0.12; p=0.05] and female sex [OR=4.18; p=0.03]; whereas the most relevant independent variables associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) were HbA1c [OR=1.70; p=0.006], SBP [OR=1.08; p=0.05], BMI [OR=1.20; p=0.03] and lack of cigarette smoking [OR=0.07; p=0.01]. Correlation analysis (performed through the nonparametric Spearman's rank correlation test or through the parametric Pearson test, as appropriate) revealed a significant positive relationship between HbA1c and FPG (r=0.58; p0.0001), ulcer surface area (r=0.50; p0.0001), ulcer grade (r=0.23; p=0.02), minor LEAs (r=0.20; p=0.04), DPN (r=0.41; p0.0001), and metformin therapy alone (r=0.72; p0.0001). There was a significant inverse correlation between HbA1c and insulin therapy alone (r=-0.31; p=0.01) and combined metformin and insulin therapy (r=-0.60; p0.0001). Both DFU and non-DFU groups exhibited suboptimal mean LDL-cholesterol levels (100 mg/dl) and mean HbA1c values7.5%. Moreover, in DFU group HbA1c values were markedly elevated (≥10%) particularly in patients with a grade 3 ulcer and an ulcer surface area ≥4 cm2, as well as in patients with history of minor LEAs and in patients affected by DPN.The present study suggested that longer duration of diabetes, cigarette smoking, lower HDL-cholesterol levels, poor glucose control, and elevated triglyceride and SBP values may all represent major risk factors for the development of DFU in Albanian patients with T2D. Thus, community interventions and health policies aimed to improve the management of diabetes and related cardiometabolic risk factors should be urgently implemented in Albania, in order to prevent DFUs and other diabetes complications in patients with T2D.

After the outbreak of Covid-19, galleries and museums have been experimenting with new ways to engage a potential audience remotely. This study focuses on the level of engagement of virtual tours in museums looking at the representation of architectural space, representation artifacts, and ease of use as possible correlated factors. A sample group of eighty early-career experts in the field of art, architecture, or design assessed their visit to the archaeological museum of Troya Müzesi in Çanakkale, Turkey; half of the participants resided in Turkey, while the other half in Italy. This paper has addressed the following research questions with an online multi-level study: how is the online exhibition platform evaluated by its audience? Can regular employment of virtual tours engage new visitors in the long term? Is the representation of a museum, in the form of a virtual twin, an adequate surrogate that creates an immersive visiting experience?

After the outbreak of Covid-19, galleries and museums have been experimenting with new ways to engage a potential audience remotely. This study focuses on the level of engagement of virtual tours in museums looking at the representation of architectural space, representation artifacts, and ease of use as possible correlated factors. A sample group of eighty early-career experts in the field of art, architecture, or design assessed their visit to the archaeological museum of Troya Müzesi in Çanakkale, Turkey; half of the participants resided in Turkey, while the other half in Italy. This paper has addressed the following research questions with an online multi-level study: how is the online exhibition platform evaluated by its audience? Can regular employment of virtual tours engage new visitors in the long term? Is the representation of a museum, in the form of a virtual twin, an adequate surrogate that creates an immersive visiting experience?

Introduction: Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP) is a rare life-threatening thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) affecting more frequently women of 30–50 years of age. There is scarce information on the clinical features of aTTP occurring in the elderly. Our goal was to evaluate the impact of an elderly-onset disease on the expression, severity and management of aTTP. Materials and methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of patients enrolled in the Milan TTP Registry (www.ttpdatabase.org) after a first acute episode of aTTP from January 2002 to March 2018. The aTTP diagnosis was suspected on the basis of the presence of thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia with no alternative causes, and was confirmed centrally by a severe plasma deficiency of ADAMTS13 activity (

La crescente attenzione dei consumatori per gli alimenti funzionali ha stimolato le ricerche su nuovi tipi di pasta ottenuti con ingredienti in grado di migliorarne l’attività antiossidante, il profilo amminoacidico o il contenuto di acidi grassi polinsaturi e fibre, con risultati, però, non sempre soddisfacenti a causa di alterazioni delle proprietà tecnologiche e sensoriali della pasta (consistenza, tenuta alla cottura, odori e sapori inusuali). La crusca di grano duro contiene numerosi composti bioattivi, tra cui fenoli, carotenoidi e tococromanoli, che possono essere estratti con tecnologie green e reintegrati nell’impasto per ottenere prodotti con caratteristiche simili alla pasta tradizionale ma con elevata attività antiossidante. Questa strategia, definibile “da grano a grano”, è stata utilizzata con successo impiegando estratti idrofili o lipofili di crusca. In questo lavoro i risultati conseguiti sino ad ora sono riassunti e criticamente revisionati. The increasing interest of consumers towards functional foods has induced researches aimed to obtain new pasta types by using ingredients able to improve antioxidant activity, amino acid or fatty acid profile, and soluble fiber content. However, the results have not been satisfactory in all cases, due to frequently observed anomalous odor and taste or decreased consistency. Durum wheat bran contains several bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, carotenoids, and tocochromanols, which can be extracted by means of green technologies. To preserve as much as possible the sensory features of pasta, an interesting strategy, that can be referred to as “from wheat to wheat”, is to enrich and functionalize pasta with durum wheat bran extracts. The aim of this work has been to resume and review the results obtained by the studies aimed to obtain functional pasta, focusing in particular on those based on this strategy.