The Complex Gene-Carbohydrate Interaction in Type 2 Diabetes: Between Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents a public health problem globally, with the highest prevalence reported among older adults. While an interplay of various determinants including genetic, epigenetic, environmental factors and unhealthy lifestyle, particularly diet, has been established to contribute to T2D development, emerging evidence supports the role of interactions between nutrients or dietary patterns and genes in the pathogenesis of this metabolic disorder. The amount, and especially the type of carbohydrates, in particular, have been correlated with the risk of non-communicable chronic disease and mortality.

The Role of Microbiota in the Pathogenesis of Bullous Pemphigoid and Pemphigus Vulgaris: Evidence, Controversies, and Perspectives.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) and pemphigus vulgaris (PV) represent the most prevalent conditions among autoimmune bullous skin diseases, considered a major cause of severe morbidity and, in certain cases, mortality. The hallmark of the two diseases is the presence of autoantibodies directed against proteins located in the basement membrane of the skin, which determines the formation of blisters. In recent years, interest in the role of microbiota in relation to health-disease status has progressively increased.

A Comprehensive Review of Radiotherapy-Induced Coronary Artery Disease-Epidemiology, Biological Mechanisms, and Preventive Strategies.

Radiation-induced cardiac toxicity is a recognized complication in patients undergoing thoracic radiotherapy. A crucial manifestation of this toxicity is the damage caused to coronary arteries, which can result in accelerated atherosclerosis that may remain undetected for many years. As cancer survival rates continue to improve, the incidence of radiation-induced coronary artery disease (RICAD) is increasing, making it one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among patients treated with radiotherapy for mediastinal cancers.

Predictors of Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Machine Learning Analysis After a 7-Year Follow-Up.

Ischemic heart disease is a major global health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. Several cardiometabolic variables play a key role in the incidence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The aim of the present study was to apply a machine learning approach to investigate factors that can predict acute coronary syndrome in patients with a previous episode.

Phthalates and Non-Phthalate Plasticizers and Thyroid Dysfunction: Current Evidence and Novel Strategies to Reduce Their Spread in Food Industry and Environment.

Thyroid hormones (THs) play a crucial role in various biological functions, including metabolism, cell growth, and nervous system development, and any alteration involving the structure of the thyroid gland and TH secretion may result in thyroid disease. Growing evidence suggests that phthalate plasticizers, which are commonly used in a wide range of products (e.g.

Ambient Air Pollution and Congenital Heart Disease: Updated Evidence and Future Challenges.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) represents the major cause of infant mortality related to congenital anomalies globally. The etiology of CHD is mostly multifactorial, with environmental determinants, including maternal exposure to ambient air pollutants, assumed to contribute to CHD development. While particulate matter (PM) is responsible for millions of premature deaths every year, overall ambient air pollutants (PM, nitrogen and sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide) are known to increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Novel Perspectives for Sensory Analysis Applied to Piperaceae and Aromatic Herbs: A Pilot Study.

Spices and aromatic herbs are important components of everyday nutrition in several countries and cultures, thanks to their capability to enhance the flavor of many dishes and convey significant emotional contributions by themselves. Indeed, spices as well as aromatic herbs are to be considered not only for their important values of antimicrobial agents or flavor enhancers everybody knows, but also, thanks to their olfactory and gustatory spectrum, as drivers to stimulate the consumers' memories and, in a stronger way, emotions. Considering these unique characteristics, spices and aromatic herbs have caught the attention of consumer scientists and experts in sensory analysis for their evaluation using semi-quantitative approaches, with interesting evidence.

Vitamin C in the Management of Thyroid Cancer: A Highway to New Treatment?

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine malignancy, with an increased global incidence in recent decades, despite a substantially unchanged survival. While TC has an excellent overall prognosis, some types of TC are associated with worse patient outcomes, depending on the genetic setting. Furthermore, oxidative stress is related to more aggressive features of TC.

Non-Invasive Diagnostic Approaches for Kidney Disease: The Role of Electronic Nose Systems.

Kidney diseases are a group of conditions related to the functioning of kidneys, which are in turn unable to properly filter waste and excessive fluids from the blood, resulting in the presence of dangerous levels of electrolytes, fluids, and waste substances in the human body, possibly leading to significant health effects. At the same time, the toxins amassing in the organism can lead to significant changes in breath composition, resulting in halitosis with peculiar features like the popular ammonia breath. Starting from this evidence, scientists have started to work on systems that can detect the presence of kidney diseases using a minimally invasive approach, minimizing the burden to the individuals, albeit providing clinicians with useful information about the disease's presence or its main related features.

Metal Toxicity and Dementia Including Frontotemporal Dementia: Current State of Knowledge.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) includes a number of neurodegenerative diseases, often with early onset (before 65 years old), characterized by progressive, irreversible deficits in behavioral, linguistic, and executive functions, which are often difficult to diagnose due to their similar phenotypic characteristics to other dementias and psychiatric disorders. The genetic contribution is of utmost importance, although environmental risk factors also play a role in its pathophysiology. In fact, some metals are known to produce free radicals, which, accumulating in the brain over time, can induce oxidative stress, inflammation, and protein misfolding, all of these being key features of FTD and similar conditions.

Allergic Sensitization and Psychosomatic Involvement in Outdoor and Indoor Workers: A Preliminary and Explorative Survey of Motorway Toll Collectors and Office Employees.

The incidence of respiratory and cutaneous allergic disorders may be variable if we consider work activity. These disorders are reported in the current literature to have a relevant psychosomatic involvement. The aim of the study was to submit a survey on the self-reported occurrence of allergic respiratory and cutaneous diseases in outdoor and indoor workers to verify the onset or exacerbations of such pathologies, encourage surveillance, and suggest the need for further studies.

Vitamin D: An Essential Nutrient in the Dual Relationship between Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases and Celiac Disease-A Comprehensive Review.

Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) are among the most frequent autoimmune disorders, with a multifactorial etiology in which both genetic and environmental determinants are probably involved. Celiac disease (CeD) also represents a public concern, given its increasing prevalence due to the recent improvement of screening programs, leading to the detection of silent subtypes. The two conditions may be closely associated due to common risk factors, including genetic setting, changes in the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota, and deficiency of nutrients like vitamin D.

E-Health & Innovation to Overcome Barriers in Neuromuscular Diseases. Report from the 3rd eNMD Congress: Pisa, Italy, 29-30 October 2021: Remote Monitoring: New Solutions for New Avenues in Neuromuscular Disorders.

Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs), in their phenotypic heterogeneity, share quite invariably common issues that involve several clinical and socio-economical aspects, needing a deep critical analysis to develop better management strategies. From diagnosis to treatment and follow-up, the development of technological solutions can improve the detection of several critical aspects related to the diseases, addressing both the met and unmet needs of clinicians and patients. Among several aspects of the digital transformation of health and care, this congress expands what has been learned from previous congresses editions on applicability and usefulness of technological solutions in NMDs.

Wearable sensors to measure the influence of sonic seasoning on wine consumers in a live context: a preliminary proof-of-concept study.

Background: Any action capable of creating expectations about product quality would be able to modulate experienced pleasantness. In this context, during the 2022 edition of the Internet Festival (Pisa, Italy) a 'social experiment' was promoted to set up an affordable and reliable methodology based on wearable sensors to measure the emotions aroused in a live context on consumers by different kinds of wines. Therefore, five wines (two faulty ones and three high-quality samples) were proposed to 50 non-selected consumers in an arousing context with live jazz music as background.

Taste the emotions: pilot for a novel, sensors-based approach to emotional analysis during coffee tasting.

Background: Coffee is a natural drink with important properties for the human body and mind, capable of delivering energy and strong emotions, thus being appreciated since ancient times. The qualitative and quantitative assessment of the coffee properties is normally performed by trained panelists, though relying on standardized questionnaires, with possible biases arising. In this study, for the first time in the scientific literature, we applied a technology-based approach, based on the use of wearable sensors, to study the implicit emotional responses of a small cohort of experienced coffee judges, thus taking this chance to assess the feasibility of this approach in such a scenario.

Tumor Microbial Communities and Thyroid Cancer Development-The Protective Role of Antioxidant Nutrients: Application Strategies and Future Directions.

Thyroid cancer (TC), the most frequent malignancy of the endocrine system, has recorded an increasing incidence in the last decades. The etiology of TC remains at least partly unknown and, among modifiable risk factors, the gut microbiota and dietary nutrients (vitamins, essential microelements, polyphenols, probiotics) have been recognized to not only influence thyroid function, but exert critical effects on TC development and progression. Recent discoveries on the existence of tumor microbiota also in the TC microenvironment provide further evidence for the essential role of tumor microorganisms in TC etiology and severity, as well as acting as prognostic markers and as a potential target of adjuvant care in the treatment of TC patients.

Air Pollution and microRNAs: The Role of Association in Airway Inflammation.

Air pollution exposure plays a key role in the alteration of gene expression profiles, which can be regulated by microRNAs, inducing the development of various diseases. Moreover, there is also evidence of sensitivity of miRNAs to environmental factors, including tobacco smoke. Various diseases are related to specific microRNA signatures, suggesting their potential role in pathophysiological processes; considering their association with environmental pollutants, they could become novel biomarkers of exposure.

A Machine Learning Approach to the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Multi-Systemic Developmental Disorder Based on Retrospective Data and ADOS-2 Score.

Early and accurate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and tailored therapeutic interventions can improve prognosis. ADOS-2 is a standardized test for ASD diagnosis. However, owing to ASD heterogeneity, the presence of false positives remains a challenge for clinicians.

The role of High-mobility group box-1 and Psoriasin in multiple myeloma: Analysis of a population affected by monoclonal gammopathies and review of the literature.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cells neoplasm which is often preceded by a preneoplastic condition called monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS). A protein called High-mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) controls transcription and genomic stability. Both pro- and anti-tumor properties of HMGB1 have been described during tumor growth.

Wearable Sensors to Evaluate Autonomic Response to Olfactory Stimulation: The Influence of Short, Intensive Sensory Training.

In the last few decades, while the sensory evaluation of edible products has been leveraged to make strategic decisions about many domains, the traditional descriptive analysis performed by a skilled sensory panel has been seen to be too complex and time-consuming for the industry needs, making it largely unsustainable in most cases. In this context, the study of the effectiveness of different methods for sensory training on panel performances represents a new trend in research activity. With this purpose, wearable sensors are applied to study physiological signals (ECG and skin conductance) concerned with the emotions in a cohort of volunteers undergoing a short, two-day (16 h) sensory training period related to wine tasting.

A machine learning analysis to evaluate the outcome measures in inflammatory myopathies.

Objective: To assess the long-term outcome in patients with Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (IIM), focusing on damage and activity disease indexes using artificial intelligence (AI).

Background: IIM are a group of rare diseases characterized by involvement of different organs in addition to the musculoskeletal. Machine Learning analyses large amounts of information, using different algorithms, decision-making processes and self-learning neural networks.

Adaptation and validation of the Italian Singing Voice Handicap Index-10 (SVHI-10-IT).

Objective: The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Italian version of the singing Voice Handicap Index-10 (SVHI-10-IT).

Methods: 99 Italian singers were enrolled in the study. All subjects underwent videolaryngostroboscopic examination and were asked to fill out the self-reported 10-item SVHI-10-IT.