Adherence, persistence and treatment switching in psoriasis.

Aim: This study aims to investigate drug utilization patterns in the treatment of psoriasis (PsO) from 1 to 5 years in a real-life setting with Adalimumab (Ada), Etanercept (Eta), Ustekinumab (Ust), Golimumab (Gol), Ixekizumab (Ixe), Secukinumab (Sec) and Apremilast (Apr). Materials & methods: Data from an observational study were used to calculate adherence using the Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) method and persistence. Results & conclusion: Treatment adherence was found to be good for all the drugs studied across all years of analysis, while persistence was suboptimal, showing a marked decrease from the third year of study onward. In the treatment of PsO, greater attention needs to be paid to treatment persistence.

This summary explains that when a patient follows their doctor's medication instructions and continues using the same medication over time to treat a condition like psoriasis, they can expect safer and more effective outcomes. This study examined these aspects to assess how different medications perform over the long term and to explore ways to improve their prescription. The findings highlight that the main issue is not so much in following instructions but in continuing to use the same medication throughout the treatment duration. Raising awareness among healthcare professionals about these issues is crucial to help patients maintain consistent therapy over time and improve their care pathway.

Nano-protrusions in intercalated graphite: understanding the structural and electronic effects through DFT.

Complex phenomena characterize the intercalation of ions inside stratified crystals. Their comprehension is crucial in view of exploiting the intercalation mechanism to change the transport properties of the crystal or obtaining a fine control of crystal delamination. In particular, the relationship between the concentration and nature of intercalated ions and surface structural modifications of the host stratified crystal is still under debate. Here, we discuss a theoretical effort to provide a rationale for some structural changes observed on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface after electrochemical treatment in perchloric and sulphuric acid solutions. The formation of the so-called nano-protrusions on the basal plane of intercalated graphite was previously observed with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In this work, we employed both STM and density functional theory (DFT) simulations to elucidate the physical and chemical mechanisms driving the emergence of these nano-protrusions. The DFT results show that, in a bilayer graphene system, the presence of a single ion can generate a nano-protrusion with 2.49 Å height and 21.27 Å width. In the deformed area, the C-C bond length is stretched by about 2.5% more than the normal graphene bond. These values are of the same dimensional scale as those reported in previous STM experimental results.25 However, the simulated STM images obtained by increasing the amount of intercalated ions per area suggest that the presence of more than one ion is needed for the deformation of the uppermost graphite layer during the early stages of intercalation. In contrast, in a multilayer graphene system, no significant surface deformation is detected when ions are intercalated between the third and fourth layers. Charge analysis indicates an altered distribution of the charges as a consequence of the intercalation. The charge transfer from graphene layers to the intercalated ions results in a surface layer more prone to oxidation.

ADA_ETA_BIO2021: real-world evaluation of adherence, persistence, and cost-effectiveness of originator and biosimilar biologic drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a multicenter study in Italy.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to assess the adherence, persistence, and costs of bDMARDs through a multicentre study of nine Italian hospital pharmacies. METHODS: The drugs analysed were Abatacept, Adalimumab, Certolizumab, Etanercept, Golimumab and Tocilizumab.Adult subjects with Rheumatoid Arthritis were considered in the analysis.In this study, we calculated the following metrics: Adherence to treatment was evaluated as dose-intensity, which is the ratio between the amount of medication received and probably taken by the patient at home (Received Daily Dose, RDD) and the amount prescribed by the clinician (Prescribed Daily Dose, PDD). Persistence was calculated as the number of days between the first and last dispensing of the same drug. Lastly, costs were assessed based on persistence to treatment and normalized for adherence. RESULTS: Adherence to treatment was found to be above 0.8 for all drugs studied. The median persistence for a 5-year treatment period was 1.4 years for Abatacept, 1.7 years for Adalimumab, 1.8 years for Certolizumab, 1.4 years for Etanercept, 1.3 years for Golimumab, and 1.6 years for Tocilizumab. CONCLUSIONS: This multicentre retrospective observational study of bDMARDs used in the treatment of RA showed that, for all the drugs studied, there was no problem with adherence to treatment but rather a difficulty in maintaining treatment with the same drug over time.

Driving Organic Nanocrystals Dissolution Through Electrochemistry.

We have recently discussed how organic nanocrystal dissolution appears in different morphologies and the role of the solution pH in the crystal detriment process. We also highlighted the role of the local molecular chemistry in porphyrin nanocrystals having comparable structures: in water-based acid solutions, protonation of free-base porphyrin molecules is the driving force for crystal dissolution, whereas metal (ZnII ) porphyrin nanocrystals remain unperturbed. However, all porphyrin types, having an electron rich π-structure, can be electrochemically oxidized. In this scenario, a key question is: does electrochemistry represent a viable strategy to drive the dissolution of both free-base and metal porphyrin nanocrystals? In this work, by exploiting electrochemical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM), we monitor in situ and in real time the dissolution of both free-base and metal porphyrin nanocrystals, as soon as molecules reach the oxidation potential, showing different regimes according to the applied EC potential.

Cysteine-Modified Self-Assembling Peptides on Gold: The Role of the Head and Tail.

Molecular self-assembly consists of the spontaneous aggregation of molecules into a well-defined structure guided by noncovalent bonds. The self-assembly strategy is ubiquitous in nature and recently has been proposed as a nature-mimetic strategy in polymer science and biomaterial engineering. In this context, we aim at designing and testing innovative but simple chemical strategies to efficiently modify surfaces by exploiting minor modifications in the bioactive molecule functionalities, for example, introducing cysteine (Cys) as a terminal residue in self-assembling peptides (SAPs). In this work, we report the attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry investigation of self-assembled layers of oligopeptides anchored onto gold surfaces through cysteine residues, opportunely inserted in an SAP (EAK16-II) main chain in three different positions: at the amine end group, at the carboxyl end group, and at both terminal groups (i.e., a bidentate SAP). This study, which allowed us to individuate in the bidentate SAP the best candidate for the controlled production of ordered SAP layers on the gold substrate surface, is envisaged to open wide perspectives for efficient chemical modification of surfaces with biomolecules, leading to obtaining innovative bioactive materials for applications in the field of tissue engineering.

Optical Conductivity of Two-Dimensional Silicon: Evidence of Dirac Electrodynamics.

The exotic electrodynamics properties of graphene come from the linearly dispersive electronic bands that host massless Dirac electrons. A similar behavior was predicted to manifest in freestanding silicene, the silicon counterpart of graphene, thereby envisaging a new route for silicon photonics. However, the access to silicene exploitation in photonics was hindered so far by the use of optically inappropriate substrates in experimentally realized silicene. Here we report on the optical conductivity of silicon nanosheets epitaxially grown on optically transparent Al2O3(0001) from a thickness of a few tens of nanometers down to the extreme two-dimensional (2D) limit. When a 2D regime is approached, a Dirac-like electrodynamics can be deduced from the observation of a low-energy optical conductivity feature owing to a silicene-based interfacing to the substrate.

Femicídios: narrativas de crimes de gênero / Femicide: narratives of gender crimes / Femicidio: narrativas de delitos de género

Femicídios são mortes violentas de mulheres, decorrentes do exercício de poder entre homens e mulheres. Este é um estudo qualitativo que utilizou a ferramenta das narrativas para analisar inquéritos policiais de homicídios femininos em Porto Alegre nos anos de 2006 a 2010. Foram estudados 92 inquéritos da Delegacia de Homicídios de Porto Alegre, dos quais selecionamos seis casos considerados representativos de: femicídio íntimo; femicídio com abuso sexual; morte por execução ou conexão, e femicídio de profissional do sexo. Observou-se a presença de crimes de gênero caracterizados pela crueldade, semelhantes aos encontrados em regiões de elevada violência e misoginia. O trabalho procura visibilizar os femicídios como crimes de natureza política, e objetiva denunciar essas mortes evitáveis, cujas vítimas são, em sua maioria, mulheres: jovens, negras, profissionais do sexo e moradoras de territórios marcados pelo tráfico e pela pobreza.

Femicides are violent deaths of women resulting from power struggles between men and women. This was a qualitative study that used the tool of narratives to analyze police investigations of female homicides in Porto Alegre, in the years from 2006 to 2010. Ninety-two police inquiries conducted by the Homicide Division of Porto Alegre were studied and six cases that were considered representative of intimate femicide, femicide with sexual abuse, death through execution or connection and sex worker femicide were selected. The presence of gender crimes characterized by cruelty, similar to those found in regions of high violence and misogyny, was observed. This study sought to give visibility to femicide as a crime of political nature and had the aim of denouncing these preventable deaths, whose victims are mostly young black women, sex workers and residents of districts marked by drug trafficking and poverty.

Femicidios son muertes violentas de mujeres debidas al ejercicio de poder entre hombres y mujeres. Este es un estudio cualitativo que utilizó las narrativas para analizar las investigaciones policiales de homicidios de mujeres ocurridos en Porto Alegre, entre los años 2006 y 2010. Se estudiaron 92 investigaciones de la División de Homicidios y se seleccionaron seis casos considerados representativos de los femicidios íntimos, femicidios con abuso sexual, muertes por ejecución o conexión y femicidio de trabajadora sexual. Se observó la presencia de crímenes de género perpetrados con crueldad, similares a los encontrados en regiones de elevada violencia y misoginia. El trabajo buscar dar visibilidad a los femicidios como crímenes de naturaleza política y objetiva y denunciar esas muertes evitables, cuyas víctimas son en su mayoría mujeres jóvenes, negras, trabajadoras del sexo y residentes en territorios marcados por el tráfico y la pobreza.

Offspring birth weight in second-generation 'small for gestational age' infants.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the intergenerational effects on intrauterine growth in pregnant women who were themselves small for gestational age (SGA) at birth. METHODS: A retrospective case control was carried out on infants born in the period 1 January 2009 to 31 March 2009 at the Sant'Orsola Hospital, Bologna. Out of 958 infants, 707 met the criteria for inclusion in the study. RESULTS: After calculation of the percentiles stratified for gestational age at delivery, 68 cases were classified as SGA. Logistic regression analysis was used as the multivariable tool for calculating the bearing of each covariable on the outcome (SGA), including smoking and the presence of an SGA in previous pregnancies. A total of 28.6% of the infants of SGA women were SGA compared with 8.6% of the children of non-SGA women (p-value < 0.01). The multivariable odds ratio was 2.61 (95% CI = 1.16-5.86) for women who were SGA to have SGA children. The extra risk of being SGA in the actual pregnancy when the mother was SGA was estimated at about 7%. CONCLUSION: Reduced intrauterine growth of the mother is a risk factor for reduced intrauterine growth of her children.

[Hospital consumption of antibiotics at the Policlinico Hospital of the Second University of Naples: results of retrospective data collection]. / Monitoraggio delle prescrizioni di antibiotici nei reparti dell'A.O.U. Policlinico Seconda Università di Napoli attraverso l'analisi retrospettiva dei consumi.

In the therapeutic field, analysis of antibiotics consumption and use is of great importance: it is considered a necessary prerequisite for initiating measures to rationalize the use of antibiotics, but also to limit bacterial resistance. In this light, we conducted an observational study on antibiotics consumption at the Policlinico University Hospital in Naples to evaluate the prescription of antibiotics in the hospital's four main divisions. We used the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) as a measure of antibiotics consumption, and collected data retrospectively from 2006 to 2007. Our findings clearly show a 23.3% increase in antibiotics consumption in 2007 vs 2006. The classes of antibiotics experiencing the greatest percentage increases were penicillins and other beta-lactams, quinolones and glycopeptides. In particular, among other beta-lactams (J01D) in 2007 was the consumption of third-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems. The surgical division showed the largest increase in use of antibiotics, while in intensive care we found a reduction. Our data suggest consumption data should be compared with information on prescriptions and costs so as to monitor more closely the consumption of antibiotics and thus rationalize their use with a view to reducing the phenomenon of bacterial resistance. Finally, it would be useful to launch a training program for the proper use of antibiotics in our University Hospital.