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In the night of April 6, 2009, an earthquake of MW 6.3 magnitude occurred in the Abruzzo region. The hypocenter was estimated by the INGV at 42,35° N, 13,38° E, at a 9.5 km depth; moreover, at least one month of pre-seismic events preceded the main shock and aftershocks continued for at least 6 months. For the understanding of the geodetic and geodynamic implications of the earthquake, the temporal and spatial analyses of the phenomenon are fundamental; our research group has collected the GNSS data provided by about 50 permanent stations in the earthquake area and neighbouring regions; all the data have been processed in order to investigate the stations displacements and, if possible, the deformation pattern. In particular, the time series (two months of data both before and after the earthquake) of the daily coordinates were interpolated for each station in order to estimate the displacement at the main shock epoch: particular attention has been paid to carry out a proper covariance empirical estimation, in order to evaluate the displacement significance. Finally, the displacements of all the stations have been spatially analyzed to indentify the areas with similar displacements and the main discontinuities between them. Thirteen stations that significantly displace horizontally have been found: a rough clustering allows us to discriminate between a near field area that displaces mainly southwards, a south-western region that displaces in a SWdirection and a northeast region with an opposite motion. Only four station in the epicenter area significantly displace vertically, with drops between 3 and 12 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study patient tolerability of brain imaging that employs an ultrahigh field (7 T) MR systemMethods: We examined 180 subjects that underwent brain MR examination at 7 T. A tolerability test consisting of two parts (during patient table motion and during the examination) was administered to all subjects in order to monitor their discomfort. The scores range from 0 to 5 for the first part, and from 0 to 10 for the second part, the total score of each subject therefore ranging from 0 (no side effects reported) to 15 (lowest tolerability)Results: A total of 51% of subjects reported at least one side effect but all were mild in intensity and did not require examination interruption. No serious adverse event was reported. The total score (mean ± standard deviation) was 1.1 ± 1.5 out of 15 (mean score 0.4 ± 0.7 out of 5 during patient table motion and 0.7 ± 1.1 out of 10 during MR). Patient discomfort was not related to gender or health status, but it was reduced with time after system installation with increasing operator experience in performing UHF MR examinations.Conclusions: Ultrahigh field MRI is well tolerated without excessive discomfort to subjects.Key Points: • 7-T MRI is well tolerated with low incidence of side effects • The subjects' discomfort during 7-T MRI is reduced as the operators' experience increases • 7-T MRI is practicable in healthy subjects and patients with neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right-hemispheric organisation of language has been observed following early left-sided brain lesions. The role of the site of damage is still controversial, as other aspects influence the pattern of speech organisation including timing of the lesion and the presence of epilepsy. We studied a group of 10 term-born children homogeneous for timing/type of lesion and clinical picture. All subjects had left perinatal arterial stroke, right hemiplegia, normal cognitive functions and no or easily controlled epileptic seizures. In half the patients, the lesion clearly involved Broca's area, in the other half it was remote from it. Language lateralization was explored by an fMRl covert rhyme generation task. Eight of 10 subjects showed a right lateralisation of language, includ all five patients with a damaged left Broca and 3/5 of those without it. Group analysis in patients with right hemispheric organisation showed brain activations homotopic to those found in tl1e left hemisphere of a matched control group. Our findings confirm that, at the end of gestation, the human brain exhibits extraordinary (re-)organisational capabilities. Language organisation in the right hemisphere is favoured by the presence destructive lesions of the left Broca's area at birth, and occurs in brain regions homotopic those usually involved in language processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To examine the reorganisation of the somatosensory system after early brain lesions. Methods: We studied 12 young patients with congenital hemiplegia. Causative lesions were brain malformations, periventricular injuries and cortico-subcortical lesions. We explored the somatosensory system using evoked potentials, fMRI during sensory stimulation and clinical assessment of sensory function. To correlate sensory and motor function, we also performed transcranial magnetic stimulation, fMRI of hand movement and assessment of motor function by means of Melbourne test. Results: Eleven patients showed a perilesional reorganisation of primary somatosensory function, as expressed by short latency potentials following stimulation of the paretic hand; in a remaining patient, delayed latency responses (N27.1) were only elicited over the ipsilateral undamaged hemisphere. Five of the eleven patients with perilesional somatosensory representation of the affected hand showed contralesional shifting of motor function, thus exhibiting sensory-motor dissociation. Significant correlation was found between sensory deficit and fMRI activation during sensory stimulation. Conclusions: In subjects with early brain lesions, somato-sensory function is generally reorganised within the affected hemisphere. A contralesional shifting is uncommon and poorly efficient in function restoration. Significance: This study confirms and further explores the difference in reorganisation capabilities of the motor and sensory system following early brain injury of different etiologies and timing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Retinal prosthesis technologies require that the visual system downstream of the retinal circuitry be capable of transmitting and elaborating visual signals. We studied the capability of plastic remodeling in late blind subjects implanted with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis with psychophysics and functional MRI (fMRI). After surgery, six out of seven retinitis pigmentosa (RP) blind subjects were able to detect high-contrast stimuli using the prosthetic implant. However, direction discrimination to contrast modulated stimuli remained at chance level in all of them. No subject showed any improvement of contrast sensitivity in either eye when not using the Argus II. Before the implant, the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) activity in V1 and the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) was very weak or absent. Surprisingly, after prolonged use of Argus II, BOLD responses to visual input were enhanced. This is, to our knowledge, the first study tracking the neural changes of visual areas in patients after retinal implant, revealing a capacity to respond to restored visual input even after years of deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We have measured the speed of muon neutrinos with the Borexino detector using short-bunch CNGS beams. The final result for the difference in time-of-flight between an muon neutrino and a particle moving at the speed of light in vacuum is , well consistent with zero. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present paper, we address brain–behaviour relationships in children with acquired aphasia, by reviewing some recent studies on the effects of focal brain lesions on language development. Timing of the lesion, in terms of its occurrence, before or after the onset of speech and language acquisition, may be a major factor determining language outcome. However, it is still unclear which are the effects of aphasia occurring between 2 and 5years of age, a time window which is crucial for acquiring and automatizing the basic rules of native language. A comprehensive review of the literature on acquired childhood aphasia precedes the description of long-term follow-up (20years) of two identical twins, one of whom became aphasic at 3years and 4months after infarction of the left sylvian artery. Psycholinguistic analysis and fMRI data show a slow and incomplete recovery from non-fluent aphasia associated to an intra-hemispheric organization of language. These data, which support the potential but also the limits of neural plasticity during language development, are discussed in the light of the literature on the time-course and neural bases of acquired childhood aphasia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

From May 1996 to April 2002, 48 laparoscopic fundoplications were performed after failure of medical treatment in 47 neurologically impaired infants and children affected by gastroesophageal reflux. Indications for surgery included vomiting, recurrent upper airway infections, failure of medical therapy, feeding difficulties with failure to gain weight, and instrumental (barium swallow and pHmetry) diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux. A standard approach was adopted, with minimal access modifications according to the patients' characteristics. In two patients, laparoscopic surgery had to be converted to open surgery because of severe kyphoscoliosis and accidental left emidiaphragm perforation. In another patient undergoing a laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, a re-do laparoscopic operation was performed. Postoperative analgesia was administered during the first 12 h, and fluid intake and feeding were begun on days 1 and 2, respectively. All patients clinically improved except two; a paraesophageal hernia developed in one, and a stenosis developed in the other. We strongly believe that laparoscopic fundoplication can be successfully adopted in neurologically impaired children as well as in pediatric patients as a whole, with the same advantages and far fewer drawbacks than are expected in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]