^aUniversity of Padova, Padua

^bUniversity of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

^cUniversity of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

^dJichi University, Tochigi

^eTohoku University, Sendai

^fShiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan

^gUniversity of Chieti, Chieti, Italy

^hColumbia University

ⁱStony Brook University, New York, USA

^jFlinders University, Adelaide, Australia

^kHospital of Assisi, Italy

Correspondence to Prof. Paolo Palatini, MD, Department of Medicine, Via Giustiniani, 2 35128 Padova, Italy. Tel: +39 049 8212278; fax: +39 049 8754179; e-mail: [email protected]