201 cases of foreign body ingestion in a Surgical Emergency Unit A 16-year retrospective study.

AIM: The aim of this study is to analyse clinical characteristics of FB ingestion and predictive factors for complications, in order to reduce mortality and morbidity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of emergency surgical consultation records has been carried out from June 2005 through June 2015 yielded 201 episodes with the diagnosis of ingestion of foreign objects at the Surgical Unit of the University of Bari. RESULTS: Natural Removal in 44,8% of cases; Endoscopic retrieval in 42,4%, Surgical Procedures 4,4%. Statistical analysis was based on multivariate analysis and the model R2 of the Naegelkerke value. DISCUSSION: First of all, the approach to ingestion should be endoscopic. The second approach is surgical in selected cases. The most frequent site of impaction were oesophagus, stomach and right colon. An EGD proved to be the most used procedure with a no morbidity and no mortality. CONCLUSION: The ingestion of foreign bodies is a frequent, complex and expensive condition to treat. Observation and endoscopy are the most appropriate procedures to be considered to manage the ingestion of FB in Emergency Surgery Unit. KEY WORDS: Emergency surgery, Foreign bodies, Ingestion.

Migrants' Fertility in Italy: A Comparison Between Origin and Destination.

Previous research has analyzed the effect of migration on fertility, and a number of hypotheses have been developed: namely adaptation, socialization, selection, disruption and interrelation of events. Comparison among stayers in the origin countries, migrants and non-migrants in the destination country is essential to gain better understanding of the effects of migration on fertility. However, this joint comparison has been rarely conducted. We sought to fill this gap and analyze migrants' fertility in Italy. By merging different data sources for the first time, we were able to compare our target group of migrant women, respectively, born in Albania, Morocco and Ukraine with both Italian non-migrants and stayers in the country of origin. Considering the first three orders of births, multi-process hazard models were estimated in order to provide a more exhaustive and diversified scenario and to test the existing hypotheses. The results show that there is no single model of fertility for migrants in Italy. In addition, some hypotheses provide a better explanation of the fertility behavior than others do. Among women from Morocco, the socialization hypothesis tends to prevail, whereas Albanians' fertility is mostly explained in terms of adaptation. Disruption emerged as the main mechanism able to explain the fertility of migrants from Ukraine, and a clear interrelation between fertility and migration is apparent for women from Albania and Morocco, but only for the first birth.

Living arrangements in sub-Saharan Africa between modernization and ethnicity

Context/Background: Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by an extraordinary diversification of living arrangements. It is a debatable question whether these features are evolving alongside the deep economic and social changes observed in the past few decades. Despite numerous studies on family changes and their effects, very few analyses consider different ethnic and geographical contexts. Data Source and Methods: The paper observe the interaction between modernization and cultural heritage in shaping living arrangements in 10 sub-Saharan countries and in 38 ethnic groups. A temporal perspective has been adopted, comparing two successive DHS carried out between 1990 and 2013. Stratifying by ethnic groups and rural/urban contexts, factor analysis and hierarchical classification analysis investigate how living arrangements combine with fertility levels and socio-economic characteristics. Findings: The results support the large heterogeneity of living arrangements and the increase of new family forms, rather than the existence of a convergence process on a single nuclear family pattern. Ethnic background is confirmed a valid interpretative key, necessary to understand the cultural substrate in which the modernization factors brought by globalization act. Conclusion: National governments should develop and implement family policies that can raise the wellbeing of the emerging family models. In particular, family policies should support households in providing care and economic, material, psychological and affective support for their members

[Health and demographic status of unauthorized immigrants: the Albanian refugees landed in Italy (Apulia) in 1997]. / La situazione demo-sanitaria degli immigrati clandestini: considerazioni sul contingente albanese giunto in Puglia nel 1997.

This study is aimed at assessing the health care demand of the Albanian groups arrived in Italy (Apulia) in 1997 and accommodated in the Cassano and Palese refugee camps. The analysis is based on the forms filled in on their arrival and first aid registers. Albanian health and demographic official data were also analyzed. The most common health problems observed amongst refugee groups were slight illnesses (23.3%), respiratory tract infections (11.3%), gastroenteritis (9.9%). In the light of these data, the refugees' status does not appear to be critical, although there remains the need to carry out constant monitoring to prevent infectious diseases and improve the quality of social facilities.