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This article aims to present the results of a national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on the presence and roles of associations of breast cancer patients and volunteers in Italian specialist breast centres. The survey was developed according to standard methods. The questionnaire was pre-tested by a random sample of three breast centres, loaded onto the SurveyMonkey platform, and piloted by one volunteer breast centre. The breast centre clinical leads were invited to participate via email. A link to the online instrument was provided. No financial incentives were offered. The results were reported using standard descriptive statistics. The response rate was 82/128 (65%). Members of associations were routinely present in 70% Italian breast centres. Breast centres most often reporting their presence were those certified by the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists. Patient support (reception and information, listening, identification of needs, and psychological support) was the primary area where associations were reported to offer services. The magnitude of this phenomenon warrants a study to investigate the impact of the activities of associations on the quality of life of patients and on the cost-benefit ratio of the service, and the modes of their interactions with the nursing staff and the medical staff.

To understand and assess vaccine reluctance, it is necessary to evaluate people's perceptions and grasp potential reasons for generic apprehension. In our analysis, we focus on adolescents' impressions towards anti-vaxxer behavior. The aim of the study is to figure out students' opinions about vaccine reluctance, connecting possible explanations that motivate anti-vaxxer decisions with common specific personality traits. We further investigate people's forecasts concerning the evolution of the pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022, we conducted a randomized survey experiment on a sample of high school individuals (N=395) living in different Italian regions. At that time, the vaccination campaign had already been promoted for nearly one year. From the analysis, it emerges that vaccinated people (92%), especially males, tend to be more pessimistic and attribute a higher level of generic distrust in science to anti-vaxxers. The results show that family background (mother's education) represents the most influential regressor: individuals coming from less educated families are less prone to attribute generic distrust and distrust of vaccines as principal reasons for vaccine reluctance. Similarly, those who rarely use social media develop a minor tendency to believe in a generic pessimism of anti-vaxxers. However, concerning the future of the pandemic, they are less likely to be optimistic toward vaccines. Overall, our findings shed light on adolescents' perceptions regarding the factors that influence vaccine hesitancy and highlight the need for targeted communication strategies to improve vaccination rates.

Background: Despite recommendations, mammography screening is often insufficiently integrated into specialist breast centres. A national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on this issue was carried out among the Italian breast centres associated with Senonetwork, the Italian network of breast cancer services., Methods: A 73-item questionnaire was created, pre-tested and piloted. Centres integrating and not integrating a screening programme were compared using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. Centres' clustering was performed using the Gower's distance metric. Groups and clusters were compared with the equality-of-means test., Results: The response rate was 82/128 (65%). Overall, 84% (69/82) breast centres reported a collaboration with a screening programme in performing and/or reading mammograms and in the diagnostic work-up of women with abnormal screening results. The same proportion was observed among those centres responding to all questions (62/74). Performance expectancies (or the perceived usefulness of integration in terms of clinical quality, patient convenience, ease of job, and professional growth), satisfaction and motivation were higher in those centres collaborating with the screening programme. Effort expectancy indicators (or the degree to which the respondents believe that the integration is easy to implement) and those concerning the existence of facilitating conditions were lower both in centres collaborating and not collaborating with the screening programme. Among the former, six clusters of centres, distributed from 'no integration' to 'high', were identified. In cluster analysis, the highest level of integration was associated with higher agreement that integration eases the job, offers better opportunities for professional growth, and makes the working environment more satisfactory. The least integrated cluster assigned the lowest score to the statement that local health authority made available the resources needed., Conclusions: While confirming the positive effects of integrating screening programmes into breast centres, this survey has brought to light specific difficulties that must be faced. The results provide insights into the importance of integration focusing on the perspectives of professional career and motivation. The deficiency of facilitating conditions to integration is modifiable. Screening professionals' societies may have a role as initiators of the integration. Other supporting actions may be included in health laws at the national and regional level., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: In 2016, the Italian Group for Mammography Screening and the Italian College of Breast Radiologists by the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology recommended that screening programmes and specialist breast centres actively invite women with a history of breast cancer to follow-up imaging., Objective: A survey of breast centres associated with Senonetwork, the Italian network of breast cancer services, has offered the opportunity to assess the implementation of this recommendation., Methods: A national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey was developed, pre-tested, and administered during the months July-October 2020. Five of the 73 questionnaire items concerned breast cancer follow-up., Results: The response rate was 82/128 (65%). Of the 82 respondent centres, 69 (84%) were involved in a screening programme. Fifty-six (68%) reported the presence of a programme of active invitation to breast cancer follow-up targeted at patients living in their catchment area, with a significant north-to-south gradient. Four centres (5%) reported that the screening programme was responsible for actively initiating follow-up during the 10-year period since diagnosis. Only after 10 years did the proportion increase moderately., Conclusion: Screening programmes have still a marginal role in active breast cancer follow-up., (© 2022. Italian Society of Medical Radiology.)

Aging changes were examined in Drosophila melanogaster. Lifespan was determined in two strains of male and female Drosophila raised at 19 degrees, 24 degrees, and 29 degrees C. The results show an inverse relationship between lifespan and temperature. In addition, lipid peroxidation rates and superoxide dismutase activity were measured in homogenates and phospholipase A2 activity was determined in crude membrane samples prepared from this species. Temperature was found to be directly correlated with the rate of lipid peroxidation in each group. The longest-lived group, wild-type females, exhibited the lowest rate of lipid peroxidation at each temperature; whereas the shortest-lived group, vestigial wing males, displayed the highest rates of lipid peroxidation. Older (40-53 day) vestigial wing males also exhibited significantly higher superoxide dismutase activity than younger vestigial wing males (0-5 day) and higher phospholipase A2 activity than wild-type females of the same age. These results indicate that there is an association between lipid peroxidation rates and lifespan in Drosophila, and that aging changes may include an increase in superoxide dismutase and phospholipase A2 activity. These findings agree with the hypothesis that free radicals are involved in the aging process in Drosophila.

The effect of exposure to the magnetic and radio-frequency fields associated with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on survivability and long-term stress reactivity levels was examined in male rats. Rats in the experimental condition were exposed to MRI for 22.5 minutes for five successive days (Expt. 1) or 23.3 minutes for twenty-one successive days (Expt. 2). Sham field exposed animals received the identical treatment as the exposed animals except that the magnetic and radio-frequency fields were absent. Control rats were also maintained. Thirteen to twenty-two months after the exposure procedure the remaining rats were sacrificed and their whole body, spleen, heart, thymus, and adrenal weights were recorded. Blood samples were taken for measurements of red and white blood cell counts, hemoglobin content, as well as adrenocorticotrophin and corticosterone levels. The results fail to provide any evidence for changes in survivability and long-term stress reactivity levels in rats exposed to MRI and thus give no grounds to challenge the view that MRI is a safe diagnostic procedure.

Exposure of adult male mice to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure has been shown to abolish the nocturnal analgesic responses observed following treatment with morphine. The field component(s) responsible for this inhibitory effect were examined by exposing mice to either the static, time-varying or rf magnetic field components associated with an MRI procedure. In the middle of the night portion of their day-night cycle, mice were exposed for 23.2 min to one of the above field components, intraperitoneally injected with morphine sulphate (10 mg/kg) and then exposed to the field conditions for another 23.2 min, after which analgesic responses were determined. Analgesia was quantitated by determining the length of time mice were content to be on a hot surface (50 degrees C) before they showed discomfort by licking their paws. It was observed that the time-varying magnetic field completely abolished, the rf field significantly reduced, while the static field component (0.15 T) had no evident effect on morphine-induced analgesia. These results indicate that the time-varying, and to a lesser extent the rf, fields associated with the MRI procedure inhibit morphine-induced analgesia in mice. These data also raise the possibility that exposure in humans to some of the magnetic field components associated with MRI may have clinically relevant effects on the actions of narcotic drugs such as morphine.

In order to determine possible effects of exposure to nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on cognitive processes, the performance of imaged, sham exposed, and control rats on a spatial memory task was examined. This particular task was chosen because, under some conditions, animals use the magnetic field as a compass when navigating. The rats were required to collect food from eight different locations before returning to an already chosen location. All three groups of rats achieved a high level of performance, and there were no differences between groups in any of the performance measures examined. These results indicate that the MRI procedure has no significant effect on spatial memory processes in rats.

The effect of exposure to the magnetic and radio-frequency fields associated with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on two standard animal behavior tests, was examined in rats. In the first experiment male rats were given a baseline open-field test and 48 hrs later exposed for 22.5 min to a MRI procedure, a sham imaging procedure, or a control condition. Immediately after this exposure period a second open-field test was administered. All animals were given 4 more daily exposures to their respective treatment conditions and after the last exposure period a third open-field test was given. Analysis of open-field ambulation, rearing, and defecation responses indicated no significant effect of exposure to MRI on these behaviours. In a second experiment rats were conditioned in a step-down passive avoidance task and then exposed for 23.2 min (48 hrs later) to MRI, sham imaging, or control conditions. Retention tests for the passive avoidance response were administered after the first and fifth daily exposure to the experimental treatment conditions. No significant effects of the treatment conditions on retention of the avoidance response were obtained and a third retention test 3 months after the second test, also failed to provide any evidence for treatment effects. These results fail to provide any evidence for short or long term behavioral changes in animals exposed to MRI.

A simplified model relating signal intensity in an MR image to spin-lattice relaxation time (T1), repetition time (TR), number of signal averages and the average tip angle (-alpha) of the protons within the slice has been developed. This model has been used to select the optimal repetition times of two spin-echo images for a fixed total imaging time to maximize signal to noise in calculated T1 images. Theoretical predictions of T1 are virtually identical to spectroscopically measured values, and the relative noise (delta T1) in T1 images calculated from two measured spin-echo images is in good agreement with the theoretically predicted values of delta T1/T1. This model predicts that: (a) for a T1 of approximately 500 ms, the least T1 image noise is obtained with one of the spin-echo images collected with a TR of 400-500 ms. The longer the TR of the other spin-echo image, the lower the T1 image noise, but past a TR of approximately 1400 ms, T1 image signal/noise is optimized for the same total imaging time by increasing the number of averages in the shorter TR spin-echo image rather than increasing the TR of the second spin-echo image. (b) The error is reduced and the optimum TR1 is reduced as -alpha is increased from 63 to 90 degrees. (c) For a range of T1, optimal selection of TR1 and TR2 based on an intermediate value of T1, results in relatively little increase over optimal values in delta T1/T1 for the entire T1 range.

Adult male mice exposed to a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI) procedure during the mid-dark period and injected with morphine (10 mg/kg) failed to exhibit the normal nocturnally enhanced morphine analgesia response to a thermal stimulus that was displayed by mice exposed to a sham imaging procedure and treated with morphine (p less than .01). When tested during the mid-light period, animals exposed to the NMRI procedure and given morphine displayed attenuated analgesia levels relative to sham exposed mice (p less than .01) treated with morphine. However, the morphine induced analgesia was not totally abolished since the imaged mice still exhibited analgesia relative to saline treated mice (p less than .01). These results suggest that the magnetic and/or radio-frequency fields associated with the NMRI procedure alter both day- and night-time responses to morphine. These results may reflect magnetic field induced alterations in neuronal calcium binding and/or alterations in nocturnal pineal gland activity.