University of Milano-Bicocca

About: University of Milano-Bicocca is a education organization based out in Milan, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Blood pressure. The organization has 8972 authors who have published 22322 publications receiving 620484 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca & Universita degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca.

Validation of the 4AT, a new instrument for rapid delirium screening: a study in 234 hospitalised older people

Abstract: Objective: to evaluate the performance of the 4 ‘A’s Test (4AT) in screening for delirium in older patients The 4AT is a new test for rapid screening of delirium in routine clinical practice Design: prospective study of consecutively admitted elderly patients with independent 4AT and reference standard assessments Setting: an acute geriatrics ward and a department of rehabilitation Participants: two hundred and thirty-six patients (aged ≥70 years) consecutively admitted over a period of 4 months Measurements: in each centre, the 4AT was administered by a geriatrician to eligible patients within 24 h of admission Reference standard delirium diagnosis (DSM-IV-TR criteria) was obtained within 30 min by a different geriatrician who was blind to the 4AT score The presence of dementia was assessed using the Alzheimer's Questionnaire and the informant section of the Clinical Dementia Rating scale The main outcome measure was the accuracy of the 4AT in diagnosing delirium Results: patients were 839 ± 61 years old, and the majority were women (64%) Delirium was detected in 123% (n = 29), dementia in 312% (n = 74) and a combination of both in 72% (n = 17) The 4AT had a sensitivity of 897% and specificity 841% for delirium The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for delirium diagnosis were 093 in the whole population, 092 in patients without dementia and 089 in patients with dementia Conclusions: the 4AT is a sensitive and specific method of screening for delirium in hospitalised older people Its brevity and simplicity support its use in routine clinical practice

Collaborative analysis of alpha-synuclein gene promoter variability and Parkinson disease.

Abstract: ContextIdentification and replication of susceptibility genes for Parkinson disease at the population level have been hampered by small studies with potential biases. α-Synuclein (SNCA) has been one of the most promising susceptibility genes, but large-scale studies have been lacking.ObjectiveTo determine whether allele-length variability in the dinucleotide repeat sequence (REP1) of the SNCA gene promoter is associated with Parkinson disease susceptibility, whether SNCA promoter haplotypes are associated with Parkinson disease, and whether REP1 variability modifies age at onset.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe performed a collaborative analysis of individual-level data on SNCA REP1 and flanking markers in patients with Parkinson disease and controls. Study site recruitment, data collection, and analyses were performed between April 5, 2004, and December 31, 2005. Eighteen participating sites of a global genetics consortium provided clinical data. Genotyping was performed for SNCA REP1, −770, and −116 markers at individual sites; however, each site also provided 20 DNA samples for regenotyping centrally.Main Outcome MeasuresMeasures included estimations of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in controls; a test of heterogeneity; analyses for association of single variants or haplotypes; and survival analyses for age at onset.ResultsOf the 18 sites, 11 met stringent criteria for concordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and low genotyping error rate. These 11 sites provided complete data for 2692 cases and 2652 controls. There was no heterogeneity across studies (P>.60). The SNCA REP1 alleles differed in frequency for cases and controls (P<.001). Genotypes defined by the 263 base-pair allele were associated with Parkinson disease (odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-1.69; P<.001 for trend). Multilocus haplotypes differed in frequency for cases and controls (global score statistic, P<.001). Two-loci haplotypes were associated with Parkinson disease only when they included REP1 as one of the loci. However, genotypes defined by REP1 alleles did not modify age at onset (P = .55).ConclusionThis large-scale collaborative analysis demonstrates that SNCA REP1 allele-length variability is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson disease.

Erratum: NLO single-top production matched with shower in POWHEG: s - and t -channel contributions

Abstract: We present a next-to-leading order calculation of single-top production interfaced to Shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. A detailed comparison with MC@NLO and PYTHIA is carried out for several observables, for the Tevatron and LHC colliders.