The Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio app: a digital health system to improve wellbeing of inpatients with heart or lung disease.

BACKGROUND: An app providing material for education and entertaining is a possible way to support patients and healthcare providers in achieving person-centered care. METHODS: An app tailored on the Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio (FTGM), a research hospital treating cardiac and lung disorders, was created. A pilot evaluation project was conducted on consecutive patients hospitalized for heart or lung disorders. Patients were asked to complete an assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: The FTGM app provides information on diagnostic and therapeutic investigations, hospital and healthcare personnel, and includes content for entertainment and learning. It was tested on 215 consecutive patients (75% men, 66% aged >60 years, and 40% with a primary or middle school degree). Sixty-nine percentage of patients used the FTGM app, including 67% of patients aged >80 years and 65% of those with an elementary education (65%). Patients gave positive feedback on the app layout. Many (76%) looked for information on doctors and nurses in the 'People' section. Sixty-five percent of responders had used at least one of the sections called 'Music' and 'Museum visits'. The app helped many patients perceive the hospital as a more liveable place (68%), and to feel less anxious (76%), and more engaged in the diagnostic and therapeutic workup (65%). Overall, the majority of responders (87%) rated the app as 'excellent' or 'good', and almost all (95%) would have recommended other patients to use the app. CONCLUSIONS: The FTGM app is a possible tool to improve patient wellbeing during hospitalization.

Virtual Reality Training for Post-Earthquake Rescue Operators.

Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) personnel need to be appropriately trained to effectively operate in post-disaster conditions, as they need to quickly identify locations where the presence of survivors is more likely. Currently, the training procedure for this kind of triage is based on showing static pictures presenting different types of building collapses accompanied by cards providing additional environmental information. This article presents VRescue, a simulator for training USAR operators using the paradigm of immersive virtual reality (VR). VRescue recreates a range of operation conditions (day/night, presence of people, dangerous locations, etc.) experienced by real rescuers, and enables learning the use of the equipment commonly used in such scenarios.

Responses of Dairy Buffalo to Heat Stress Conditions and Mitigation Strategies: A Review.

Increases in temperature and the greater incidence of extreme events are the consequences of the climate change that is taking place on planet Earth. High temperatures create severe discomfort to animal farms as they are unable to efficiently dissipate their body heat, and for this, they implement mechanisms to reduce the production of endogenous heat (reducing feed intake and production). In tropical and subtropical countries, where buffalo breeding is more widespread, there are strong negative consequences of heat stress (HS) on the production and quality of milk, reproduction, and health. The increase in ambient temperature is also affecting temperate countries in which buffalo farms are starting to highlight problems due to HS. To counteract HS, it is possible to improve buffalo thermotolerance by using a genetic approach, but even if it is essential, it is a long process. Two other mitigation approaches are nutritional strategies, such as the use of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and cooling strategies such as shade, fans, sprinklers, and pools. Among the cooling systems that have been evaluated, wallowing or a combination of fans and sprinklers, when wallowing is not available, are good strategies, even if wallowing was the best because it improved the production and reproduction performance and the level of general well-being of the animals.

Effect of Antioxidant Supplementation on Milk Yield and Quality in Italian Mediterranean Lactating Buffaloes.

Buffaloes are raised mainly to obtain milk that is nutritionally very rich. The technological characteristics of buffalo milk are optimal for processing into cheese, and it is mainly used to produce mozzarella cheese. Under stressful conditions, buffaloes, like other animals, produce milk qualitatively poorly. The stressors that can affect the quality of production are, in addition to other factors, deficiencies in nutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. In this study, we evaluated the effect of antioxidant supplementation on the quality of buffalo milk. Sixty-six buffaloes were enrolled and subdivided into two balanced groups of 33 each. The ZnSe group received 0.2 kg/head/day of Bufalo Plus® containing antioxidants and barley meal, CaCO3 and MgCO3 mix; the control group was supplemented with 0.2 kg/head/day of barley meal, CaCO3 and MgCO3 mix. The two groups were fed ad libitum with a total mixed ration (TMR). The amount of diet distributed was recorded daily, and the residue in the trough manger was recorded three times per week. TMR samples were taken every two weeks for each group. Daily milk yield was recorded twice a week. Milk samples were collected every four weeks and analysed for chemical and technological properties. Furthermore, milk total antioxidant capacity was determined. The results obtained showed that the antioxidant supplement had no effect on feed intake, feeding behaviour, and feed efficiency. The treatment positively influenced milk production while it did not affect the chemical characteristics of the milk. In addition, the supplement of antioxidants improved the milk clotting properties (MCP). The supplement did not affect the antioxidant activity of the milk.

IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 decay but persist 4 months after vaccination in a cohort of healthcare workers.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Monitoring the immune response against SARS-CoV-2 is pivotal in the evaluation of long-term vaccine efficacy. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies represent an advisable tool to reach this goal, especially for the still poorly defined antibody trend induced by the new class of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anti-Spike RBD IgG antibodies were monitored in a cohort of healthcare workers at CRO Aviano, National Cancer Institute, through MAGLUMI® chemiluminescence assay, at 1 and 4 months after full-schedule of BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccination. RESULTS: At 1 month after vaccination, 99.9% of 767 healthcare workers showed a reactive antibody response, which was inversely correlated with age, and positively associated with a previous history of COVID-19, and mRNA-1273 vaccination. Serological response was maintained in 99.6% of the 516 subjects monitored also at follow-up. An antibody decay from 559.8 AU/mL (IQR 359.7-845.7) to 92.7 AU/mL (IQR 65.1-148.6; p < 0.001) was observed, independently from age and sex. CONCLUSION: Our data supported the ability of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines to induce at least a 4 months-lasting IgG response, even outside the rules of clinical trials. The antibody decay observed at follow-up suggested to deepen the immune response characterization to identify subjects with low anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity possibly requiring a vaccination boost.

Correction: Mediterranean diet and quality of life in women treated for breast cancer: A baseline analysis of DEDiCa multicentre trial.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239803.].

Mediterranean diet and quality of life in women treated for breast cancer: A baseline analysis of DEDiCa multicentre trial.

Evidence suggests a beneficial role of the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in healthy subjects. HRQoL is relevant in cancer therapy and disease outcomes, therefore we investigated the association between adherence to the MedDiet and HRQoL in breast cancer survivors participating in the multicentre trial DEDiCa. Diet and HRQoL were assessed at baseline in a subgroup of 309 women enrolled within 12 months of breast cancer diagnosis without metastasis (stages I-III, mean age 52±1 yrs, BMI 27±7 kg/m2). The 14-item PREDIMED questionnaire was used to analyse adherence to the MedDiet. HRQoL was assessed with three validated questionnaires measuring physical, mental, emotional and social factors: EQ-5D-3L, EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BR23. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the possible role of the MedDiet on HRQoL. Patients with higher adherence to MedDiet (PREDIMED score >7) showed significantly higher scores for physical functioning (p = 0.02) and lower scores on the symptomatic pain scale (p = 0.04) assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire compared to patients with a lower adherence to MedDiet (PREDIMED score ≤7). Higher scores from the EQ-5D-3L indicating higher well-being were observed mainly in participants with higher MedDiet adherence (p = 0.05). In adjusted multivariate analyses significant positive associations were found between MedDiet, physical functioning (p = 0.001) and EQ 5D-3L score (p = 0.003) while inverse associations were found with pain and insomnia symptoms (p = 0.005 and p = 0.029, respectively). These results suggest that higher adherence to the MedDiet in breast cancer survivors is associated with better aspects of quality of life, specifically higher physical functioning, better sleep, lower pain and generally higher well-being confirming findings in healthy subjects.

Quality of Life in Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer after a 12-Month Treatment of Lifestyle Modifications.

Healthy lifestyles are associated with better health-related quality of life (HRQoL), favorable prognosis and lower mortality in breast cancer (BC) survivors. We investigated changes in HRQoL after a 12-month lifestyle modification program in 227 BC survivors participating in DEDiCa trial (Mediterranean diet, exercise, vitamin D). HRQoL was evaluated through validated questionnaires: EQ-5D-3L, EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BR23. Baseline changes were tested using analysis of variance. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess treatment effects on HRQoL. Increases were observed in global health status (p < 0.001), physical (p = 0.003), role (p = 0.002) and social functioning (p < 0.001), body image (p < 0.001), future perspective (p < 0.001), well-being (p = 0.001), and reductions in fatigue (p < 0.001), nausea and vomiting (p = 0.015), dyspnea (p = 0.001), constipation (p = 0.049), financial problems (p = 0.012), sexual functioning (p = 0.025), systematic therapy side effects (p < 0.001) and breast symptoms (p = 0.004). Multiple regression analyses found inverse associations between changes in BMI and global health status (p = 0.048) and between serum 25(OH)D levels and breast symptoms (p = 0.002). A healthy lifestyle treatment of traditional Mediterranean diet and exercise may impact positively on HRQoL in BC survivors possibly through reductions in body weight while vitamin D sufficiency may improve BC-related symptoms. These findings are relevant to BC survivors whose lower HRQoL negatively affects treatment compliance and disease outcomes.