Isolation and characterization of an atypical Mycoplasma gallisepticum strain showing a new mgc2 variant.

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is an important pathogen of the poultry industry able to cause chronic respiratory disease in chickens and infectious sinusitis in turkeys. Despite the application of biosecurity measures and the availability of vaccines for chickens, monitoring systems routinely applied for MG detection are still essential for infection control. Pathogen isolation is time-consuming and not suitable for rapid detection, albeit it is a compulsory step for genetic typing and antimicrobial susceptibility evaluation of single strains. The mgc2 gene is a species-specific molecular target adopted by most of the PCR protocols available for MG diagnosis, which are also included in the WOAH Terrestrial Manual. We describe the case of an atypical MG strain, isolated in 2019 from Italian turkeys, characterized by an mgc2 sequence not detectable by common endpoint PCR primers. Considering the potential risk of false negative results during diagnostic screenings with the endpoint protocol, the authors propose an alternative mgc2 PCR endpoint protocol, named MG600, which should be considered as a further diagnostic tool.

Genetic analysis of human and swine influenza A viruses isolated in Northern Italy during 2010-2015.

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection in swine plays an important role in the ecology of influenza viruses. The emergence of new IAVs comes through different mechanisms, with the genetic reassortment of genes between influenza viruses, also originating from different species, being common. We performed a genetic analysis on 179 IAV isolates from humans (n. 75) and pigs (n. 104) collected in Northern Italy between 2010 and 2015, to monitor the genetic exchange between human and swine IAVs. No cases of human infection with swine strains were noticed, but direct infections of swine with H1N1pdm09 strains were detected. Moreover, we pointed out a continuous circulation of H1N1pdm09 strains in swine populations evidenced by the introduction of internal genes of this subtype. These events contribute to generating new viral variants-possibly endowed with pandemic potential-and emphasize the importance of continuous surveillance at both animal and human level.

[Coping styles, psychosocial factors and adjustment processes in patients with type I and II diabetes]. / Stili di coping, fattori socio-cognitivi e processi di adattamento psicosociale in pazienti diabetici di tipo I e II.

Coping is defined by Perlin and Shooler as "... that behavior that protects people from psychological pressure due to social situations and problems". This intention Lazarus and Folkman affirm: "... the coping allows people to use different abilities to manage the difficulties (stressors) that they experience in daily existence..." When the stressor is diabetes, the requirements and pressures due to the illness and its physiological and psychosocial consequences are continuous and become chronic. In numerous studies, the coping, suitable or not, has been linked to different medical consequences of the diabetes: changes in glycosylated hemoglobin levels, in the physiological functionality, in the specific symptomatology, in body weight and body mass index. In other research, as in the present contribution, the coping and specific socio-cognitive dimensions have been correlated with the psychosocial consequences of the diabetes, particularly with quality of life and psychological and social adaptation (PSA). This last concept refers, within the illness process, to the attainment of the characteristic behavioral and psychological objectives of recovery. The purpose of the present work is to individualize the coping styles and to note the correlations with socio-cognitive dimensions in diabetic patients, and to measure their incidence on the APS, answering to a series of questions, such as: "What are the modalities of a more functional coping? Are they correlated with the socio-cognitive dimensions? Together do they influence the APS processes?". To 123 diabetic patients (51 with diabetes type 1; 72 with diabetes type 2), with a middle age of 63.7 and 54.9, respectively, have been administered, in sequence, two questionnaires: an adaptation of the Bernese Coping Modes (BECOMO) of Heim et coll. and the Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire (MDQ) of Talbot et coll. The results, by using descriptive statistics and data analysis techniques, seem to point out that, in the two groups of diabetic patients, it is possible to identify different modalities of coping that favors both different levels of APS and categories of dissimilar APS.

The objective assessment of visual contrast sensitivity by pattern reversal visual evoked potentials in diabetes.

Recent studies have described abnormalities of visual evoked potentials and pattern electroretinography in diabetics without retinopathy. The visual contrast sensitivity, determined by psychophysical tests, has proved to be abnormal in diabetic patients with and without clinical retinopathy. In this study we evaluated contrast sensitivity function using both electrophysiologic and psychophysical methods. The objective assessment of functional visual contrast sensitivity was superior to psychophysical evaluation in the detection of contrast sensitivity alterations. No relationships were found between contrast sensitivity dysfunction and abnormalities of pattern electroretinography or fluorescein angiography. Our data suggest that functional visual deficits might precede background retinopathy and that the involvement of foveal function is early and very frequent in diabetic patients, even if they have normal visual acuity.