Ricerc@Sapienza

Background: The development of COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of the population; however, it had a significant impact on vulnerable subjects, such as in people experiencing homelessness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 spread in homeless persons in the city of Rome, Italy. Design and Methods: Patients included in the study underwent a clinical evaluation and rapid antibody analysis on capillary blood for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Purpose: Since subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) introduction, the pre-implant screening based on a dedicated manual ECG tool (MST) was required to assure adequate sensing by the S-ICD. A novel automated screening tool (AST) has been recently developed. We assessed and compared the pass rate with AST and MST, and we measured the agreement between screening tools. Methods: Three electrodes were positioned at locations mimicking the placement of the S-ICD, and ECG recordings were collected in the supine and standing postures at rest.

Thermogravimetry coupled with chemometrics has proved to be a rapid and cost-effective diagnostic tool for β-thalassemia screening. This model, consisting of Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), permitted the discrimination of thalassemic patients and healthy individuals, using thermogravimetric curves of blood samples. In this study, the impact of aspirin on the capability of the TGA/chemometric validated model to screen for thalassemia was investigated.

Background: Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is already considered one of the most addictive substances since an increasing number of consumers/abusers of THC and THC based products are observed worldwide. In this work, the capabilities of a novel miniaturized and portable MicroNIR spectrometer were investigated in order to propose a practical and intelligible test allowing the rapid and easy screening of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oral fluids without any pretreatment.

A novel, entirely automated MicroNIR-chemometric platform was developed for the "lab-on-click" detection of illicit drugs in nonpretreated oral fluids, and a novel tool for the first-level test is proposed. Calibration of the method was achieved by collecting oral-fluid specimens from volunteers, and chemometric analysis was considered for the development of models for prediction for cocaine, amphetamine, and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

A novel approach based on Thermogravimetric analysis followed by Chemometrics (TGA/Chemometrics) is provided for Thalassemia diagnosis and a comprehensive study consisting of the coupled approach TGA/Chemometrics, the Complete Blood Count (CBC) and Red Blood Cell (RBC) indices is developed and results are compared. A number of 128 subjects were involved in this study included 16 thalassemia intermedia transfusion-dependent (TI-TD) patients, 18 thalassemia intermedia non transfusion-dependent (TI-NTD) patients, and 14 thalassemia major β (TM-TD) patients.

In the field of forensic toxicology, the use of non-destructive and easy-to-use analytical techniques deserves remarkable attention, especially in those situations involving public health and security. In addition, the miniaturization
and portability of one-touch devices for the detection of specific threats is required more and more.
In this study, a novel on-site MicroNIR/Chemometric platform was developed to perform a real-time prediction
of cocaine and its metabolites in non pre-treated oral fluid.

Introduzione: L’inquadramento in regime di ricovero ospedaliero della gravità della disfagia orofaringea (DO) mediante test di screening migliora la gestione del paziente, stabilendo precocemente il corretto approccio dietetico e prevenendo complicanze respiratorie. Sono stati proposti numerosi test basati sulla evocazione del riflesso della tosse all’ assunzione di acqua, con una specificità del 50–88% ed una sensibilità del 27–85%.

Background: Health workers (HWs) are at high risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) infections. Therefore, health authorities further recommend screening strategies for SARS-CoV-2 infection in exposed or high-risk HWs. Nevertheless, to date, the best/optimal method to screen HWs for SARS-CoV-2 infection is still under debate, and data on the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HWs are still scarce.

Introduzione. Il piano d'azione dell'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità per l'eliminazione della tubercolosi nei Paesi con bassa incidenza di tubercolosi prevede lo screening per la tubercolosi attiva e latente in determinati gruppi ad alto rischio, inclusi gli operatori sanitari. In questo contesto, gli studenti di medicina e professioni sanitarie, esposti alla trasmissione nosocomiale di tubercolosi durante l'attività formativa e di tirocinio, rappresentano la popolazione target per lo screening della tubercolosi.