Beneficial effects of a program of Mindfulness by remote during COVID-19 lockdown.

OBJECTIVE: In the emergency context of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, mindfulness relaxation techniques can provide a safe and effective strategy to obtain in a reasonably short time some degree of relief from suffering and to guarantee a greater confidence with emotional reactions in the general population. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program for coping with COVID-19 emergency was designed as an 8-week program during the early phase of lockdown consisting in practice meditation exercises at least once a day guided and structured by certified instructors entered on a free online platform. At the end of the program all participants completed a survey. RESULTS: A total of 108 surveys were completed (67.6% male; 32.4% female). Despite the difficult moment of lockdown and the fear linked to the pandemic, 61.9% of interviewed subjects declared a state of general well-being from fair to good linked to the practice of mindfulness. Female subjects (p=0.001), married subjects (p=0.05) and people taking pharmacologic therapy demonstrated (p=0.009) significant improvement in daily management of emotions and practical requests during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: Mindfulness meditation may be effective in helping people to regulate emotions and to support their mental health during this period of worry and uncertainty.

[Promoting the quality of health surveillance of workers exposed to wood dust, with particular care to NPSC, in the territory of the Health Agency of Florence]. / Promozione della qualità della sorveglianza sanitaria dei lavoratori esposti a polvere di legno, con particolare riferimento ai TuNS, nel territorio di competenza della Azienda Sanitoria di Firenze.

Wood dust can cause occupational-related naso-sinusal cancer, characterized by a latency period of about 40 years. The Tuscany Cancer Registry estimates that cases of NPSC are from 20-25 per year into the Region (33% related to wood dust). These neoplasms are surgically treatable at early-stage and, for this reason, a rapid endoscopic diagnosis is considered to be reasonably useful for prognostic issues. We used a questionnaire to investigate nasal symptoms and NOSQ and SOLAR questionnaires to highlight respiratory/skins diseases, and a spirometry for each worker. Subjects with a working-age of more than 15 years, and those that were positive to the questionnaire and/or to the medical history were were referred to a specialist in otolaryngology. The prevalence of endoscopic positive findings--detected especially in subjects with a working age of more than 15 years--confirms the significance of the problem.

Identification by differential display of transcripts regulated during hematopoietic differentiation.

The polymerase chain reaction-based differential display method (DDRT-PCR) was used to identify mRNAs differentially expressed during the maturation of human CD34+ progenitor cells stimulated to differentiate in vitro towards granulomonocytic or erythroid lineages with a mixture of hemopoietins (kit ligand + interleukin 3 + GM-CSF in the absence or presence of erythropoietin, respectively). Three cDNA transcripts (B32, B41, and B56) display differential expression during cytokine-induced maturation of CD34+ cells. These clones have no homology with already-described sequences. Primer extension cofirmed the presence of the corresponding mRNA. The levels of mRNA corresponding to B32 are enhanced in the later phases of the granulomonocytic as well as in the erythroid differentiation of CD34+ cells. The mRNA identified by B41 was induced by a late stage in only granulomonocytic differentiation of CD34+ cells. The mRNA corresponding to B56 was instead present in nonstimulated CD34+ cells, declined in the early stages of differentiation, and reappeared at later stages in cells treated with both combinations of cytokines. Expression of these genes was detected in a number of acute myelogenous leukemias, as well as in some leukemic cell lines. B32 and B41 were downregulated in KG-1 cells induced to differentiate towards the monocytic lineage, whereas the levels of B56 were unchanged. In K562 cells, clones B41 and B56 were downregulated only in the late phases of PMA-induced megakaryocytic differentiation and during erythroid differentiation. B32 was rapidly downregulated when K562 cells were induced to differentiate towards either megakaryocytic or erythroid phenotypes. These transcripts represent novel hematopoietic cDNAs that should prove of value for the study of human blood cells and their disorders.

gamma-Interferon gene expression in the bone marrow of patients with aplastic anemia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine gamma-interferon gene expression in the bone marrow of patients with aplastic anemia and controls. Most patients with acquired aplastic anemia respond to immunosuppressive therapy, implicating an immune pathophysiologic origin for this disease. SETTING: Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health. PATIENTS: 25 patients with aplastic anemia on presentation, 18 patients after treatment, 39 patients with other hematologic syndromes, and 20 normal controls. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: gamma-Interferon signal was detected in the bone marrow of 14 of 18 patients with severe aplasia on presentation, 4 of 7 patients with moderate aplastic anemia, and 1 of 2 patients with the paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria-aplasia syndrome. The gamma-interferon gene was not expressed in marrow from 20 normal persons or in patients who had received many transfusions for chronic anemia; with pancytopenia after chemotherapy; or with marrow failure of other types, including myelodysplasia, inherited anemias, or constitutional aplastic anemia. In serial studies, gamma-interferon RNA disappeared from the marrow of patients as they responded to immunosuppression; the signal was present in 3 of 4 patients who had a relapse but not in previously treated, now recovered patients. Determination of marrow gamma-interferon gene expression was more specific and sensitive than concurrent determinations in peripheral blood. Quantitative titration of mRNA showed that gamma-interferon expression was not a simple function of the number of lymphocytes in samples. CONCLUSIONS: gamma-Interferon expression is prevalent in acquired aplastic anemia and may be a specific marker of this disease. Local production of this inhibitory lymphokine in the target organ, the bone marrow, may be important in mediating aplastic anemia. Measurement of this lymphokine's message may be useful in distinguishing acquired aplastic anemia from other forms of bone marrow failure.