University of Messina

Italian validation and exploratory measurement invariance of the food addiction symptom inventory (FASI)

Abstract Background The Food Addiction Symptom Inventory (FASI) is a clinician-administered semi-structured interview developed to assess addiction-like eating behaviors related to ultra-processed food consumption, but a validated Italian version is unavailable. This study aimed...

From Reactive Oxygen Species to Organelle Stress and Innate Immunity in Dry Eye Disease

Dry eye disease (DED) is a complex, multifactorial condition in which oxidative stress is increasingly recognized as a recurrent feature of ocular-surface dysfunction and as a signaling hub linking environmental stress, organelle dysfunction, innate immunity, and regulated cell d...

Autophagy in Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors (PitNETs): Molecular Mechanisms, Secretory Homeostasis, Therapeutic Resistance, and Translational Perspectives

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are usually indolent but may show invasive growth, recurrence, hormonal hypersecretion, and treatment resistance. Autophagy intersects with nutrient sensing, lysosomal homeostasis, mitochondrial quality control, and secretory-granule turn...

Carbon quantum dots synthesis by laser ablation of graphene oxide in biocompatible solutions

A biocompatible dispersion of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) has been obtained by laser irradiation of graphene oxide (GO) in liquid media. The CQD synthesis uses a pulsed IR laser operating at 970 nm, with a 100 ms pulse duration and a fluence of 1.1 kJ/cm2. The carbon target consis...

A Synergistic Experimental and Computational Approach to the Design of MIPs Targeting Metronidazole

Abstract Metronidazole (MTZ) is a widely used nitroimidazole antibiotic, and its persistence has raised growing concerns as an emerging environmental contaminant. This study focuses on the design of an electrochemical sensor based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) for its...

Hardware‐Native Gaussian Sampling With Probabilistic Ising Machines for Modern Communication Paradigms

ABSTRACT Modern communication systems increasingly shift computation to edge devices, where post quantum signing, generative AI and semantic communication must operate under strict energy, latency and memory constraints. A central bottleneck in these workloads is Gaussian samplin...

Perinatal Outcomes of Pleuro-Amniotic Shunting in Isolated Pleural Effusions: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Pleuro-amniotic shunting has been proposed for fetal pleural effusion, although its safety and efficacy remain uncertain. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the perinatal outcomes of the fetal therapy for isolated pleural effusion through a systematic review and single-arm meta-anal...

Managing growth and puberty concerns in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Updated guidance and future directions

Long-term glucocorticoid therapy is standard of care for individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) but often results in impaired growth and delayed or incomplete puberty, impacting their physical and psychosocial health. Although DMD endocrine care has evolved, leading t...

On Regularity via h-Open Sets

We investigate regularity properties defined by means of h-open sets, with systematic use of the associated topology τh=hO(X). In this framework, h-regularity separates points from τ-closed sets by τh-open sets, whereas strong h-regularity is precisely ordinary regularity of (X,τ...

Boron Monofluoride Complexes Bearing π‐Expanded Coumarin Subunits: Facile Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Solid‐State Enhanced Emission

Boron-containing compounds have received special interest over the last few years owing to their favorable photophysical characteristics, stimulating their use as fluorescent sensors, in bioimaging and mechanofluorochromic materials. However, their synthesis is often time-consumi...

Travel distance to tertiary healthcare reflects disease severity and medication access in Italian systemic sclerosis patients: a geographical study on adult-onset rare diseases from SPRING-SIR registry

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, multiorgan disease in adults that requires specialized care. Commuting to tertiary medical centers poses a considerable burden and incurs significant costs, potentially affecting management choices. This study aims to describe the healthcare co...

Interfacial Electric Fields in Water Nanodroplets Are Weakly Dependent on Curvature and pH

Abstract The origin of enhanced reactivity in aqueous microdroplets remains unresolved, with interfacial electric fields (IEFs) frequently proposed as catalytic drivers. Here, we present a quantum-mechanical, spatially resolved characterization of the electric field at air-water...

Infrared thermography for mapping catalyst distribution and detecting defects in PEM fuel cell and electrolyzer electrodes

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers require reliable quality control methods to assess catalyst distribution on electrode surfaces. Non-uniform catalyst deposition may reduce performance, increase platinum waste, and promote local degradation. In this work,...

Alterations in diacylglycerol kinase θ define early pathological features of Alzheimer's disease in a mouse model

Background Diacylglycerol kinase theta (DGKθ) is an enzyme involved in lipid signaling pathways and has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). DGKθ plays a crucial role in regulating diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid levels, which are important for neuronal function and...

Wing-assisted electric catamaran designed for zero-emission operation across the Aeolian Islands

This study examines an innovative rigid wing sail incorporated into an electric catamaran with zero-emission potential in the Aeolian Islands. The catamaran has an overall length of 5 m, a breadth of 2.5 m, a draft of 0.20 m, and a displacement of 500 kg. The analysis quantifies...

Balancing risk and opportunity: Digital transformation, cybersecurity investments, and export performance in low-tech firms

This study examines whether investments in digital technologies raise export sales among low-tech firms, and whether cybersecurity spending conditions these returns. Reading the Resource-Based View through resource orchestration, we frame digital technologies as enabling resource...

Melatonin as a daily rhythm control signal for glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion in horses

An involvement of melatonin in the regulation of glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells has been proposed. To evaluate the features of the daily rhythms of plasma melatonin, blood glucose, and insulin in horses, ten clinically healthy Italian Saddle geldi...

Post-Marketing Reporting Patterns of Ceftazidime–Avibactam and Ceftolozane–Tazobactam: Analysis of Adverse Event Reports from EudraVigilance

Background/Objectives: Ceftazidime/avibactam (CA) and ceftolozane/tazobactam (CT) are WHO Reserve-group antibiotics increasingly used for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. Comparative post-marketing pharmacovigilance data remain limited. Methods: A retrospective pharm...

Migraine in Real-World Clinical Practice: Patient Burden, Healthcare Utilization and Unmet Needs—A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the I-GRAINE Study

What are the main findings?Migraine care in Italy is characterized by a mismatch between healthcare resource utilization and clinical needs, with limited primary-care involvement, repeated specialist consultations, and healthcare nomadism.Healthcare resource utilization is substa...

Characterization of the fragmented mitogenome of the European badger louse Trichodectes melis reveals conserved organization in non-coding regions

Abstract Mitochondrial genome fragmentation is widespread in lice but remains poorly understood, with molecular data still scarce for many ectoparasitic species, particularly those associated with wild hosts. Here, we characterize the complete mitochondrial genome of Trichodectes...