Severe asthma is a heterogeneous, complex and chronic disease widespread in the pediatric population. According to the recent findings about the different endotypes of asthma in children, each one characterized by specific intracellular molecular pathways, several innovative biologic therapies have been developed. Due to their precise ability to target specific inflammatory type 2 mediators, biologics have revolutionized the care of chronic allergic diseases in the pediatric and adult population. In this review, we aim to provide the latest evidence about the use, indications, efficacy and safety of biologic therapies to treat severe asthma in children and adolescents.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of potentially preventable blindness in low birth weight preterm infants. Several perinatal and postnatal factors contribute to the incomplete maturation of retinal vascularization, leading to oxidative stress damage. Literature data suggest that the lack of equilibrium between pro-oxidants and anti-oxidants plays a key role. In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in identifying the antecedents of ROP and the relevant pathogenic mechanisms involved. In this context, a panel of biomarkers was investigated in order to achieve early detection of oxidative stress occurrence and to prevent retinal damage. Several nutritional elements have been found to play a relevant role in ROP prevention. At this stage, no conclusive data have been shown to support the usefulness of one biomarker over another. Recently, the Food and Drugs Administration, the European Medicine Agency, and the National Institute of Health proposed a series of criteria in order to promote the inclusion of new biomarkers in perinatal clinical guidelines and daily practice. The aim of the present review is to offer an update on a panel of biomarkers, currently investigated as potential predictors of ROP, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

In this work, the authors investigate the cuff-less estimation of continuous BP through pulse transit time (PTT) and heart rate (HR) using regression techniques, which is intended as a first step towards continuous BP estimation with a low error, according to AAMI guidelines. Hypertension (the ‘silent killer’) is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are the main cause of death worldwide. Its continuous monitoring can offer a valid tool for patient care, as blood pressure (BP) is a significant indicator of health and, using it together with other parameters, such as heart and breath rates, could strongly improve prevention of CVDs. The novelties introduced in this work are represented by the implementation of pre-processing and by the innovative method for features research and features processing to continuously monitor blood pressure in a non-invasive way. Currently, invasive methods are the only reliable methods for continuous monitoring, while non-invasive techniques measure the values every few minutes. The proposed approach can be considered the first step for the integration of these types of algorithms on wearable devices, in particular on those developed for the SINTEC project.

Susceptibility to asthma is complex and heterogeneous, as it involves both genetic and environmental insults (pre- and post-birth) acting in a critical window of development in early life. According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, several factors, both harmful and protective, such as nutrition, diseases, drugs, microbiome, and stressors, interact with genotypic variation to change the capacity of the organism to successfully adapt and grow in later life. In this review, we aim to provide the latest evidence about predictive risk and protective factors for developing asthma in different stages of life, from the fetal period to adolescence, in order to develop strategic preventive and therapeutic interventions to predict and improve health later in life. Our study shows that for some risk factors, such as exposure to cigarette smoke, environmental pollutants, and family history of asthma, the evidence in favor of a strong association of those factors with the development of asthma is solid and widely shared. Similarly, the clear benefits of some protective factors were shown, providing new insights into primary prevention. On the contrary, further longitudinal studies are required, as some points in the literature remain controversial and a source of debate.

O objetivo central da pesquisa é realizar o levantamento, junto às editoras comerciais e universitárias, de títulos publicados (livros) em primeira edição na década de 1990 e meados de 2000, os quais privilegiam a escola como objeto central de estudo da Ciência da Educação. Após levantamento, será realizada análise cuidadosa do conjunto da produção e identificação da trajetória do conhecimento construído. O trabalho de pesquisa parte do pressuposto que a escola emerge como objeto de estudo da Ciência da Educação (a partir de 1990) e ganha grande importância nas pesquisas da área da Administração da educação. Desta forma, a intenção é contribuir, ainda que singelamente, com a organização e sistematização da produção em Administração da educação no Brasil.