Publications by authors named "Carlotta Di Francesco"

Fall from a height trauma is characterized by a multiplicity of injuries, related to multiple factors. The height of the fall is the factor that most influences the kinetic energy of the body and appears to be one of the factors that most affects the extent of injury. The purpose of this work is to evaluate, through machine learning algorithms, whether the autopsy injury pattern can be useful in estimating fall height.

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Forensic medicine has always held the human environment, either seen as a source for pathological agents or the background of judicial events, in great consideration. The concept of the environment has evolved through time, expanding itself to include all the physical and virtual sub-spaces in which we exist. We can nowadays talk of technoenvironmental reality; virtual spaces exploded because of the COVID-19 pandemic making us come to terms with the fact that those are the places where we work, where we socialize and, even, where we meet our doctors and can be cured.

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Vitamin D modulates immune responses and its deficiency has been observed in more than 60% of bronchiectasis patients. Vitamin D binding protein (DBP) is coded by the GC gene, is involved in the transport of vitamin D, and includes a number of isoforms based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding region at rs7041 and rs4855. We evaluated the possible clinical impact of DBP polymorphisms and isoforms in an observational, cross-sectional study conducted in 116 bronchiectasis patients, who were genetically characterized for rs4588 and rs7041 SNPs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent studies have identified a new type of inflammation (T2-high endotype) in bronchiectasis, which contrasts with the previously accepted neutrophilic inflammation.
  • A cross-sectional study found that 31% of bronchiectasis patients without asthma exhibited characteristics of the T2-high endotype, leading to more severe symptoms and reduced quality of life.
  • In a separate case series, severe asthmatic patients with bronchiectasis showed significant reduction in exacerbation rates after treatment with mepolizumab or benralizumab, highlighting the potential benefits of targeting the T2-high endotype in future clinical trials.
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