What people know about congenital CMV: an analysis of a large heterogeneous population through a web-based survey

BACKGROUND: Congenital CMV (cCMV) infection is a serious public health issue due to both its worldwide prevalence and the severe and permanent impairments it causes. However, awareness of this infection is low in the general population and among pregnant women, and it also seems to be generally disregarded by healthcare providers. The identification of factors behind this inadequate level of knowledge could provide a basis for future preventive measures. This study aimed at evaluating awareness of CMV and cCMV infection and its correlation with socio-demographic variables in a general population. METHODS: The survey was carried out by computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). A questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the 70,975 individuals who comprised the whole population (students, administrative staff, teaching staff) of Milan University, Italy in 2015. RESULTS: Out of the 10,190 respondents, 5,351 (52.5 %) had already heard of CMV but only 3,216 (31.8 %) knew that this virus could be implicated in congenital infection. Urine and breastfeeding were the least recognized transmission routes for CMV infection; less than half of respondents accurately identified the right symptoms and sequelae caused by cCMV infection. The correct hygienic measures against cCMV infection were identified in percentages ranging from 55.6 to 75 % depending on the measures proposed but about one in three of interviewees deemed those measures unnecessary in the event of a pregnant woman already being CMV seropositive. From the mean knowledge scores the most complete quality of awareness of CMV turned out to be linked to childbearing-age (25–40 year) and with not having children, even if results for non-parents showed less of them having heard of cCMV than parents. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a limited and confused awareness of cCMV infection in a large, fairly young and well-educated Italian population

Addio agli studi: L impatto dei fattori sociali e delle motivazioni individuali sulla scelta di abbandonare l universita

Il nucleo centrale del lavoro consiste proprio nel tentativo di identificare i differenti ordini di motivazioni che si trovano all origine della scelta di lasciare gli studi, di quantificarne l incidenza e di analizzarne le caratteristiche.Il nucleo centrale del lavoro consiste proprio nel tentativo di identificare i differenti ordini di motivazioni che si trovano all origine della scelta di lasciare gli studi, di quantificarne l incidenza e di analizzarne le caratteristiche

Information matters: attitude towards organ donation in a general university population web-survey in Italy

PurposeTransplantation extends and improves lives, but the shortage of organs is one of the main factors limiting the number of transplants in Italy, as well as in other countries. This study investigated the awareness about organ donation and the socio-demographic factors associated with donation will in a general population.Design/methodology/approachIn 2019, a survey was carried out by computer-assisted web interviewing. A questionnaire was sent via e-mail to 39,360 individuals (i.e. students, administrative and teaching staff of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy). The response rate was 10.6% and 4,191 weighted cases were used in the analysis.FindingsThis study showed a strong, positive attitude towards donation: over 96% of respondents stated to be keen on organ donation. Of the respondents, 40.8% considered themselves informed on medical procedures involving organ donation, and only 15.8% thought to have sufficient legal information. Overall, only 17.7% of respondents thought that the information available was sufficient to make informed decisions. According to the respondents, ethical and religious implications were the main reasons (30% of answers) that limited the level of information. Just 57.9% of respondents had already recorded their willingness to donate. Among them, renewal of the identity card was the most common motivation (55.8%) and the main motivation reported for lack of expression of donation will was the lack of opportunity or time (61.5%).Originality/valueA positive attitude towards donation demands a wide public education programme and opportunities to declare one's will to donate to increase the population of potential organ donors.</jats:sec

Covid-19 e fiducia negli scienziati. Uno studio pilota sui lettori di due giornali online

The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has enormously increased the media exposure of scientists, some of whom have become well-known and even popular. However, it may also have signaled the beginning of an unexpected decline in public trust towards them. Responsibility for this can be ascribed not only to distortions in the communication of scientific knowledge by the media, but also to dynamics that exist within the scientific community and how they have been expressed in the media. In fact, frequently during the pandemic, not only did scientists publicly display a high level of conflict, but they also made claims that were outside their specific areas of expertise. From a pilot study conducted on about 4,000 readers of two online newspapers, five latent dimensions emerged with respect to attitudes towards science and scientists. A consistent element of people (between 20% and 30%, so still largely a minority) seems to share a non-scientist epistemological model, unmoored to presumed certainties and absolute truths. This phenomenon, based on the responses of those interviewed, seems to be associated particularly with a critical attitude regarding the public exposure of scientists and their way of communicating in the mass media, and not with a general skepticism towards science and its role in society

Establishment of patient derived xenografts as functional testing of lung cancer aggressiveness

AbstractDespite many years of research efforts, lung cancer still remains the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Objective of this study was to set up a platform of non-small cell lung cancer patient derived xenografts (PDXs) faithfully representing primary tumour characteristics and offering a unique tool for studying effectiveness of therapies at a preclinical level. We established 38 PDXs with a successful take rate of 39.2%. All models closely mirrored parental tumour characteristics although a selective pressure for solid patterns, vimentin expression and EMT was observed in several models. An increased grafting rate for tumours derived from patients with worse outcome (p = 0.006), higher stage (p = 0.038) and higher CD133+/CXCR4+/EpCAM− stem cell content (p = 0.019) was observed whereas a trend towards an association with SUVmax higher than 8 (p = 0.084) was detected. Kaplan Meier analyses showed a significantly worse (p = 0.0008) overall survival at 5 years in patients with grafted vs not grafted PDXs also after adjusting for tumour stage. Moreover, for 63.2% models, grafting was reached before clinical recurrence occurred. Our findings strengthen the relevance of PDXs as useful preclinical models closely reflecting parental patients tumours and highlight PDXs establishment as a functional testing of lung cancer aggressiveness and personalized therapies.</jats:p

Highly tumorigenic lung cancer CD133+ cells display stem-like features and are spared by cisplatin treatment

The identification of lung tumor-initiating cells and associated markers may be useful for optimization of therapeutic approaches and for predictive and prognostic information in lung cancer patients. CD133, a surface glycoprotein linked to organ-specific stem cells, was described as a marker of cancer-initiating cells in different tumor types. Here, we report that a CD133+, epithelial-specific antigen-positive (CD133+ESA+) population is increased in primary nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with normal lung tissue and has higher tumorigenic potential in SCID mice and expression of genes involved in stemness, adhesion, motility, and drug efflux than the CD133− counterpart. Cisplatin treatment of lung cancer cells in vitro resulted in enrichment of CD133+ fraction both after acute cytotoxic exposure and in cells with stable cisplatin-resistant phenotype. Subpopulations of CD133+ABCG2+ and CD133+CXCR4+ cells were spared by in vivo cisplatin treatment of lung tumor xenografts established from primary tumors. A tendency toward shorter progression-free survival was observed in CD133+ NSCLC patients treated with platinum-containing regimens. Our results indicate that chemoresistant populations with highly tumorigenic and stem-like features are present in lung tumors. The molecular features of these cells may provide the rationale for more specific therapeutic targeting and the definition of predictive factors in clinical management of this lethal disease