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Background: At least 5-10% of malignancies occur secondary to an underlying cancer predisposition syndrome (CPS). For patients with a CPS, cancer surveillance is recommended with the goal of identifying malignancy earlier, in a presumably more curable form. Surveillance protocols, including imaging studies, lab work, and procedures, can be complex, differing based on age, gender, and syndrome, which may adversely affect adherence. Mobile health (mHealth) applications have been utilized in the oncology field and could help to facilitate adherence to cancer surveillance protocols. Methods: Applying a user-centered mobile app design approach, patients with a CPS and/or primary caregivers were interviewed to identify current methods for care management and barriers to compliance with recommended surveillance protocols. Broad themes from these interviews informed the design of the mobile app, HomeTown, subsequently evaluated by usability experts. The design was then converted into software code in phases, evaluated by patients and caregivers in an iterative fashion. User population growth and app usage data were assessed. Results: Common themes identified include general distress surrounding surveillance protocol scheduling and results, difficulty remembering medical history, assembling a care team, and seeking resources for self-education. These themes were translated into specific functional app features including push reminders, syndrome-specific surveillance recommendations, ability to annotate visits and results, storage of medical histories, and links to reliable educational resources. Conclusions: Families with CPS demonstrate a desire for mHealth tools to facilitate adherence to cancer surveillance protocols, reduce related distress, relay medical information, and provide educational resources. HomeTown may be a useful tool for engaging this patient population.

Objective: Stereotyped beliefs about schizophrenia are well-established in the society and relatively common among healthcare professionals and students. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions about the causes, treatment, and outcome of schizophrenia among healthcare students. Method: Undergraduate nursing and psychology students completed selected items of the Opinion on Mental Illness Questionnaire after reading a clinical vignette of undiagnosed schizophrenia. Results: Students who labelled the description as schizophrenia were more pessimistic regarding full recovery from the disorder. Those who acknowledged greater relevance to biogenetic risk factors were more convinced of the efficacy of medications. Respondents’ opinions on the efficacy of psychological interventions were more positive among psychology students than among nursing students. Conclusions: The study confirmed the associations of schizophrenia labelling with prognostic pessimism and beliefs about the efficacy of pharmacological treatment among future healthcare professionals. Students’ opinions were less influenced by differences between academic degree programs. Information about current recovery rate and comprehensive care for schizophrenia may support future healthcare professionals in the relationship and the clinical management of PWS.

Objectives This study aimed at investigating the relationship between perceived public stigma towards people with schizophrenia (PWS) and their family members in a large sample of medical and psychology students. We hypothesised that: a) schizophrenia labelling would be related to greater perceived public stigma; b) contact with PWS would be related with lower perceived stigma; c) perceived public stigma would be similar between medical and psychology students and would be higher among students attending the clinical stage compared to their pre-clinical colleagues. Methods Participants were 592 students attending either the pre-clinical or clinical stage of coursework in Medicine and Psychology, at the University of Palermo (Italy) (Tab. I). Study measures included a short socio-demographic questionnaire, the Devaluation of Consumers Scale (DCS), and the Devaluation Consumers Families Scale (DCFS). Results Students who identified schizophrenia in an unlabelled clinical description expressed greater perceived public stigma towards PWS (t = -2.895, p = 0.004) and their family members (t = -2.389, p = 0.017). A trend-level association was found between previous contact with PWS and lower perceived public stigma (t = 1.903, p = 0.058), which became significant for those students who had a more extensive contact (Mann-Whitney z = 2.063, p = 0.039). Compared to medical students, psychology students perceived greater public stigma towards PWS. No difference was observed between students at different stages of their academic coursework (Tab. II). In a multivariate linear regression model, schizophrenia labelling and degree course predicted perceived public stigma towards severe mental disorders. Conclusions This study replicated previous findings on the relationship between public stigma towards PWS, schizophrenia labelling, and contact with PWS. Perception of public stigma was similar among pre-clinical and clinical students and greater among psychology students. The findings suggest the importance of promoting a critical awareness of negative stereotypes towards schizophrenia among healthcare students, since the beginning of their coursework. In addition to correct information about schizophrenia, anti-stigma intervention should include contact with PWS who live in the community.

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) may transdifferentiate into cells belonging to mesodermal, endodermal and ectodermal lineages. The aim of this study was to verify whether a neural differentiation of ASCs could be induced by a conditioned medium (CM) obtained from cultures of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs) or Schwann Cells (SCs), both responsible for the production of several growth factors. ASCs isolated from the stromal vascular fraction of adipose tissue were expanded for 2-3 passages and then cultured in OEC-CM or SC-CM for 24 h or 7 days. At each stage, the cells were tested by immunocytochemistry and flow cytometer analysis to evaluate the expression of typical neural markers such as nestin, PGP 9.5, MAP2, Synapsin I and GFAP. Results show that both conditioned media induced similar positive effects, since all tested markers were overexpressed, especially at day 7. Overall, an evident trend toward neuronal or glial differentiation was not clearly detectable in many cases. Nevertheless, a higher tendency toward a neuronal phenotype was recognized for OEC-CM (taking into account MAP2 expression), whereas SC-CM would be responsible for a more marked glial induction (considering GFAP increases). These findings confirm that environmental features can induce ASCs toward a neural differentiation, either as neuronal or glial elements. Rather than supplementing the culture medium by adding chemical agents, a "more physiological" modification was obtained here by soluble factors released by glial cells. This culture strategy may provide valuable information in the development of cell-based therapeutic approaches for pathologies affecting the central/peripheral nervous system.

Islamic terrorism is an extremely complex, articulated and constantly evolving criminal phenomenon: born and rooted in Islamic culture, it has been expanding down to Western world and presents itself in different ways. Terror is, as we shall see later, the primary object of terrorist groups: that is why we decided to conduct a pilot study with the aim of probing perception of the phenomenon on the part of the subjects. In this regard, we conducted an innovative and unique study, analysing for the first time the results of 1493 questionnaires that have been administered to a sample of Italian university students, concerning the perception of this growing phenomenon. the study has confirmed how the strategy of terror, whatever is its nature and its purposes, has a strong impact on lifestyles, on the formation of prejudices, on the general conception of the world; It shifts the coordinates and changes life perspectives. The study is innovative in terms of perception of the terrorist phenomenon since it appears to be one of the first studies in this area focusing on the Italian context