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Soil salinity is considered one of the most limiting factors in large agricultural areas, and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is highly sensitive to this abiotic stress, which exacerbates under drought. The use of halotolerant PGPR is a promising strategy to enhance tomato tolerance and productivity in saline soils. The present study tested the capability of the recently discovered bacterial strain PVr_9 to increase tolerance to salinity in tomato plants in vitro, greenhouse and open field conditions. When inoculated with PVr_9, in vitro seedlings showed a significant increase in primary root length, number of secondary roots and fresh weight both in absence of stress and when exposed to 150 mM NaCl. In plants exposed to salt treatment, PVr_9 upregulated the salt tolerance genes SOS1 and NHX1, and the enzyme prolyl aminopeptidase involved in proline metabolism. Proteins associated with resistance against pathogens were also upregulated by PVr_9 in absence of salt stress. In greenhouse, PVr_9-inoculated tomato plants treated for 1-week with 150 mM NaCl showed a significant increase in shoot fresh biomass, chlorophyll, proline content, and APX activity. Tomato fruits from PVr_9 inoculated plants, exposed in the field to salt stress during the flowering stage, showed higher levels of carotenoids, lycopene, and l-ascorbic acid, as well as an increased antioxidant capacity compared to fruits of uninoculated plants. These results indicate PVr_9 as a potential biostimulant in tomato for better tackling soil salinization in a context of climate change and expansion of coastal salinity, while there is large scope for the improvement of the nutritional characteristics of tomato fruits.

ObjectiveThe urgent transfer of an intensive care unit (ICU) is particularly challenging because it carries a high clinical and infectious risk and is a critical node in a hospital’s patient flow. In early 2017, exceptional rainfall damaged the roof of the tertiary hospital in Udine, necessitating the relocation of one of the three ICUs for six months. We decided to assess the impact of this transfer on quality of care and patient safety using a set of indicators, primarily considering the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and mortality rates.MethodsWe performed a retrospective, observational analysis of structural, process, and outcome indicators comparing the pre- and posttransfer phases. Specifically, we analyzed data between July 2016 and June 2017 for the transferred ICU and examined mortality and the incidence of HAI.ResultsDespite significant changes in structural and organizational aspects of the unit, no differences in mortality rates or cumulative incidence of HAIs were observed before/after transfer. We collected data for all 393 patients (133 women, 260 men) admitted to the ICU before (49.4%) and after transfer (50.6%). The mortality rate for 100 days in the ICU was 1.90 (34/1791) before and 2.88 (37/1258) after transfer (p = 0.063). The evaluation of the occurrence of at least one HAI included 304 patients (102 women and 202 men), as 89 of them were excluded due to a length of stay in the ICU of less than 48 h; again, there was no statistical difference between the two cumulative incidences (13.1% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.075).ConclusionIn the case studied, no adverse effects on patient outcomes were observed after urgent transfer of the injured ICU. The indicators used in this study may be an initial suggestion for further discussion.

BackgroundThe phenomenon violence against health professionals has received increasing attention in recent years because of its frequency and significant impact on victims’ mental health and disruption of health services. Despite this attention, little is known about the incidence of workplace violence in the highly politicized immunization services. Therefore, we decided to examine the prevalence of workplace violence in the COVID-19 immunization campaign, the risk and protective factors, and the impact on victims’ mental health.MethodsBetween March and April 2022, we conducted an anonymous online survey among health professionals working in COVID-19 vaccination centers in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (Italy). We used the Questionnaire for Workplace Violence in Healthcare Settings and the Impact of Event Scale–Revised.ResultsOf the 200 participants, 93 (46.5%) reported being victims of an act of violence during the vaccination campaign, 60 of them verbally and 7 physically. In 35.5% of cases, the IES score indicated a possible post-traumatic stress reaction in the victim. Opinions on measures to prevent violence and support workers in the workplace differed according to the sex of the health professional, with women emphasizing the need for self-defense training and improvement of security arrangements (p

The Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) process describes the dynamics of Brownian particles in a confining harmonic potential, thereby constituting the paradigmatic model of overdamped, mean-reverting Langevin dynamics. Despite its widespread applicability, this model falls short when describing physical systems where the confining potential is itself subjected to stochastic fluctuations. However, such stochastic fluctuations generically emerge in numerous situations, including in the context of colloidal manipulation by optical tweezers, leading to inherently out-of-equilibrium trapped dynamics. To explore the consequences of stochasticity at this level, we introduce a natural extension of the OU process, in which the stiffness of the harmonic potential is itself subjected to OU-like fluctuations. We call this model the OU ^2 process. We examine its statistical, dynamic, and thermodynamic properties through a combination of analytical and numerical methods. Importantly, we show that the probability density for the particle position presents power-law tails, in contrast to the Gaussian decay of the standard OU process. In turn, this causes the trapping behavior, extreme value statistics, first passage statistics, and entropy production of the OU ^2 process to differ qualitatively from their standard OU counterpart. Due to the wide applicability of the standard OU process and of the proposed OU ^2 generalisation, our study sheds light on the peculiar properties of stochastic dynamics in random potentials and lays the foundation for the refined analysis of the dynamics and thermodynamics of numerous experimental systems.

Se evaluó el efecto de distintos tratamientos de secado (natural, 50 y 70 °C) y manejo agronómico (sin y con re-fertilización en pre-floración) sobre la dureza endospérmica en cuatro híbridos de maíz (AW 190, NK 940, Cóndor y Mill 522). La dureza se evaluó mediante peso hectolítrico (PH), test de flotación (TF) en NaNO3 y CCl4 y relación de molienda (RM). El ensayo se basó en un diseño factorial. Generalmente, altos valores de PH y RM y bajos de TF están asociados con maíces más duros. Se observó que el secado artificial (50 y 70 °C) disminuyó RM, aumentó TF y no produjo mayores cambios en PH, disminuyendo así la dureza. Los híbridos Cóndor (secado natural) y con re-fertilización (secado a 50 °C), Mill 522 (secado natural y a 50 °C) y en el manejo control (secado a 70 °C) lograron valores de dureza para calidad ‘Premium’. Las técnicas empleadas permitieron clasificar los híbridos por su dureza y evaluar el efecto de la temperatura de secado sobre la misma.

Introduction: Spinal and non-spinal pathologies can cause low back pain. Non-spinal sources of low back pain include the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) and the hip. SIJ pain can be treated either conservatively or surgically. Current strategies for managing sacroiliac joint pain are debated, and limited evidence exists. Areas covered: The present expert opinion updates current evidence on conservative and surgical modalities for SIJ pain Expert opinion: Surgical management for SIJ pain is effective. However, it exposes patients to surgery and, therefore, related complications. Conservative management may be implemented in patients with moderate SIJ pain, with less than six months of symptoms, or not eligible for surgery. Several noninvasive modalities are available, mostly centered on intra-articular injections. Corticosteroids, platelet-rich plasma, and stem cells have only midterm lasting effects, at most for nine months. Radiofrequency ablation is another methodology for pain relief. Both continuous and pulsatile radiofrequency ablation are associated with good outcomes. SIJ fusion can be performed using different techniques; however, a clear recommendation on the most appropriate modality for the management of SIJ pain is still debated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Spinal cord injury (SCI) may bring lifelong consequences for affected patients and a high financial burden to the health care system. Source of data Published peer-reviewed scientific articles identified from EMBASE, Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus. Areas of agreement Surgery and blood pressure management are the main targets in acute SCI to avoid secondary damage. Areas of controversy The management of secondary chronic SCI is challenging, with unpredictable outcomes. Growing points Given the lack of consensus on pharmacological therapy for acute and secondary chronic SCI, the present study analyses the currently available drugs and treatment options to manage secondary chronic SCI. Areas timely for developing research Different approaches exist for the pharmacological management of secondary chronic SCI. One of the most investigated drugs, 4-aminopyridine, improves central motor conduction and shows improvement in neurological signs. Positive results in different areas have been observed in patients receiving the anti-spastic drugs tizanidine and baclofen or Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Growth hormone showed only minimal or no significant effects, and the therapy of secondary chronic SCI with riluzole has been poorly researched to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Static nonreciprocal forces between particles generically drive persistent motion reminiscent of self-propulsion. Here, we demonstrate that reciprocity-breaking fluctuations about a reciprocal mean coupling strength are sufficient to generate this behavior in a minimal two-particle model, with the velocity of the ensuing active bound state being modulated in time according to the nature of these fluctuations. To characterize the ensuing nonequilibrium dynamics, we derive exact results for the time-dependent center of mass mean-square displacement and average rate of entropy production for two simple examples of discrete- and continuous-state fluctuations in one dimension. We find that the resulting dimer can exhibit unbiased persistent motion akin to that of an active particle, leading to a significantly enhanced effective diffusivity.

Abstract Purpose In patients with monocompartmental knee osteoarthritis, unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) can be performed. This study compared the medial versus lateral UKA in patients with monocompartimental knee arthroplasty. It was hypothesised that both implants achieve a similar outcome in OKS. Methods The UKAs were fixed‐bearing medial PPK (Zimmer‐Biomet, Warsaw, Indiana, USA) and fixed‐bearing lateral Zuk (Lima Corporate, Udine, Italy). An intraarticular drain was placed and removed on the first postoperative day. Enoxaparin sodium 4000 units subcutaneously daily for 45 days was used as thromboembolic prophylaxis. The Italian version of the OKS was used for the clinical assessment. The following complications were also recorded: anterior knee pain, infection and revision surgeries. Results Data from 203 patients were collected. The mean age of the patients was 68.9 ± 6.7 years and the mean BMI was 28.1 ± 4.1 kg/m2. The mean OKS on admission was 22.1 ± 4.5 points. On admission, women, patients older than 70 years, and those with a BMI lower than 28 kg/m2 who underwent lateral UKA evidenced lower OKS. At the last follow‐up, 26.7 and 26.9 months for the lateral and medial UKA, respectively, no between groups difference in OKS was evidenced. No patients experienced complications. Conclusion Medial and lateral UKA achieve similar outcomes in OKS at a minimum of two years of follow‐up.

Abstract Background The coverage for influenza vaccination among healthcare workers (HCWs) is inadequate in many countries despite strong recommendations; is there evidence that influenza vaccination is effective in preventing absenteeism? Aim of the study is to evaluate the influenza vaccination coverage and its effects on absences from work among HCWs of an Italian academic healthcare trust during the 2017–2018 influenza season. Methods We performed a retrospective study to identify predictive characteristics for vaccination, and a retrospective cohort study to establish the effect of vaccination on absences among the vaccinated and non-vaccinated cohorts between December 2017 and May 2018. Overall absence rates over the whole observation period and sub-rates over 14-days intervals were calculated; then comparison between the two groups were conducted applying Chi-square test. Results Influenza vaccination coverage among 4419 HCWs was 14.5%. Age, university degree, medical care area and physician profile were positively associated with vaccine uptake. Globally during influenza season non-vaccinated HCWs lost 2.47/100 person-days of work compared to 1.92/100 person-days of work among vaccinated HCWs (p

The current pandemic caused by COVID-19 has underlined the importance of a joint effort and approach to ensure patient and health care worker safety in medical care throughout Europe. In addition, the recent flood disasters in Germany and other countries called for immediate joint action, in this case with regard to the prevention of water-borne infections. Environmental disasters will increase with consequences for hospitals and nursing homes. Cooperative efforts are needed for preventing and controlling associated infection outbreaks, new pathogens will appear and a geographic shift of infectious diseases previously not detected in certain areas has already been observed.This approach to infection prevention and control must entail structural as well as regulatory aspects. The principle of equal protection against infections in all European countries must be implemented. Prevention and control of infections, including nosocomial infections, infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria as well as pandemics, need to be based on equal standards in all of Europe.Protection against infections and other public health risks in all European countries is the best guarantor for building trust and identification of citizens in our common Europe.Experts in the fields of hygiene, microbiology, infectiology and epidemiology have to pool the expertise on the prevention and control of infections from different European countries and define key targets for achieving a high standard of hygiene measures throughout Europe. The participants of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation International Symposium call for immediate action and priority to be given to the realization of the proposed 16-point plan.