University of Molise

A Physical Therapy Clinical Framework for Temporomandibular Disorders: Integrating DC/TMD, ICOP and Multidimensional Patient Phenotyping

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are clinically heterogeneous, and patients sharing the same diagnosis may differ substantially in pain mechanisms, functional impairments, behavioral contributors, comorbidities, psychosocial burden, prognosis, and treatment response. Although t...

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...

Contrasting macro- and meso-litter accumulation in managed and unmanaged beach sectors of the northwestern Adriatic Sea

Abstract Beach management practices are widely implemented in coastal environments, yet their association with litter size structure remains poorly understood. We evaluated macro- and meso-litter across vegetated (unmanaged) and non-vegetated (managed) beach areas along the north...

Machine learning-guided screening of urine cultures for urinary tract infection diagnosis according to AMCLI guidelines

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent bacterial infections, and their diagnosis relies on the accurate interpretation of urine cultures. However, manual evaluation is time-consuming, operator-dependent, and susceptible to diagnostic variability. In this stu...

Quantitative framework for synthesising defocus-curve evidence in simultaneous-vision intraocular lenses

Background/aims To develop a quantitative, meta-analytic framework to synthesise defocus-curve evidence and describe functional visual performance of simultaneous vision intraocular lenses (SVIOLs) across clinically relevant visual ranges. Methods PubMed was searched from incepti...

The Behavior of the External Limiting Membrane and Ellipsoid Zone in Diabetic Macular Edema: A Population AI-Assisted Optical Coherence Tomography Study

Purpose: To investigate the behavior of the external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) in diabetic macular edema (DME) using artificial intelligence (AI)-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) quantification. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. OCT scans of...

The effect of partial replacement of soybean oil with insect fats on dietary short-term preference in laying hens

Assessment of the acceptance of novel feed ingredients provides valuable insights into their potential integration into practical animal feed formulations. However, despite growing interest in insect-derived feed ingredients, information on the short-term palatability of insect f...

Spectral Trajectory Analysis of Drug Release from Bioprinted Alginate-Based Hydrogels

Abstract The release of molecular probes from soft hydrogel matrices involves coupled transport and structural relaxation processes that are difficult to capture using predefined kinetic models. Here we investigate the release dynamics of indocyanine green from bioprinted alginat...

Field Performance of the Yeast Biocontrol Agent Papiliotrema Terrestris Strain PT22AV Against Rice Blast in Northern Italy: Evidence from Two-year Multi-site Trials

Abstract Rice blast, caused by Pyricularia oryzae , is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of rice worldwide and remains a major constraint in temperate production systems such as Northern Italy. Current management relies largely on synthetic fungicides, particularly stro...

PIK3CA in Cancer: Structure, Biology, Alterations, and Actionability

PIK3CA, which encodes the p110α catalytic subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), is one of the most frequently altered oncogenes in human cancer and a major driver of tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Over the past two decades, advances...

Toward Explaining Large Language Models in Software Engineering Tasks

Recent progress in Large Language Models (LLMs) has substantially advanced the automation of software engineering (SE) tasks, enabling complex activities such as code generation and code summarization. However, the black-box nature of LLMs remains a major barrier to their adoptio...

Climatic and Socioeconomic Determinants of Consumer Food Price Index Dynamics: Empirical Evidence from 47 Advanced and Emerging Economies (2001–2022)

This study investigates the empirical links between climatic/socio-economic factors and Consumer Price Food Indices (CPFIs) across 47 advanced and emerging economies from 2001 to 2022. Utilizing a balanced panel dataset compiled from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators,...

Widespread thermophilization but weak link to climate warming in Europe’s summit plant communities

Abstract Recent changes in alpine vegetation are often attributed to climate warming, particularly community composition shifts towards more warmth-associated species, or thermophilization. Here we assess the link between thermophilization and warming across 53 European mountain...

Pyrroloquinoline Quinone and NAD+ Metabolism in Glaucoma: A Molecular Rationale for Combined Neuroprotection

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and a paradigmatic age-related neurodegenerative disease in which retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are selectively lost through mechanisms that extend beyond intraocular pressure. Age-dependent NAD+ depletion in RGCs,...

Lumbar Plexus Disorders Presenting as Low Back Pain: A Narrative Review of a Practical Diagnostic Imaging Approach

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common causes of medical consultation worldwide and is typically attributed to degenerative spinal disorders. However, a subset of patients presents with LBP related to extra-spinal conditions, including disorders of the lumbar plexus. These...

Visual Pathways Involvement in Friedreich’s Ataxia Patients Without Macular Impairment

Objectives: Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) abnormalities in Friedreich Ataxia (FA) may result from dysfunction of retinal ganglion cells (RGC), post-retinal visual pathways, or both. Therefore, we aimed to clarify whether in Friedreich Ataxia (FA), abnormal neural conduction is du...

Potential Anticancer Activity of Donkey Milk in Human Gastric Adenocarcinoma (AGS) Cell Line

Gastric cancer (GC) remains a major global health challenge, ranking among the most lethal malignancies due to late diagnosis, high tumor heterogeneity, and limited treatment efficacy. The search for safer, nutritionally based adjuncts to conventional therapies is therefore a res...