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Issue: EU Reg 625/2017 establishes that all Food Business Operator FBO needs to be categorised based on risk. The risk rating is obtained by summing the scores of the non-conformities and risk factors checked. Description of the problem: In the past, various categorisation systems have been used but due to many FBO present in the regional territory, a new system of categorisation rapid and efficient is required. Results: The system classifies the risk of FBO in two phases: the first, based on static criteria (type and volume of production, market areas), in which a default category is established; the second, based on dynamic and technical criteria (provisions and scores of official control, structural and productive features), in which a definitive category is established. When a FBO is set up, it presents a declaration of start-up that included the static criteria: a preliminary risk category is determined. The authorities assign a definitive rating by a complex inspection, during which specific check-lists of the dynamic and technical criteria are completed. Each element is assigned a percentage weight, which contributes to the risk assessment, and so to the frequency of controls. A value >70% means high risk and 1 control per year; a value of 69.9-50% means medium risk and 1 control every 2 year; a value of 59.9- 30% means low risk and 1 control every 3 years, and a value <29.9% indicates a negligible risk and controls on demand. In the period between 2 inspections, the score will be updated by the outcomes of any other official controls. The rating is updated according to favourable or unfavourable outcome. Lessons: In addition to being efficacious and efficient, this new system of categorisation optimises the work of the authorities. Key messages: • This new categorisation system makes risk-based controls simpler and more efficacious. • The project involves various Italian regions and the OECD, thereby enabling official controls to be standardised at the European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate and correlate the enhancement pattern of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and tumour cellular differentiation on histopathology. Patients underwent hepatic CEUS, performed with SonoVue and contrast pulse sequencing. The correlation between enhancement time and enhancement level of the lesions in different vascular phases and tumour cellular differentiation was determined. The tumours were graded according to the Edmondson grading system. Then, diagnosis was obtained by histopathological examination following surgery or percutaneous ultrasound-guided biopsy. 189 patients with HCC were examined with CEUS and histopathological examination between 2003 and 2009: 159 had a solitary lesion (85 %), 24 had 2 lesions (12 %) and 6 had multiple lesions (3 %). The final histological grading of the tumours was as follows: 22, 114, 49, 4 grade I-IV, respectively. Significant differences were shown between the time that HCC become hypoenhancing or remained echogenic in late phase and tumour cellular differentiation ( p = 0.006, p = 0.036). The timing of HCC becoming hypoenhancing was correlated with tumour cellular differentiation, with better differentiated HCCs washing out more slowly than poorly differentiated ones ( p = 0.164, p = 0.113; p = 0.186, p = 0.070). The enhancement pattern of HCC by CEUS correlates with the cellular differentiation. In late phases, hyperechoic lesions are likely to be better differentiated, whereas hypoechoic lesion is more likely to be poorly differentiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the relatively frequent involvement of the basal ganglia and subthalamic nucleus by multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques, movement disorders (MD), other than tremor secondary to cerebellar or brain-stem lesions, are uncommon clinical manifestations of MS. MD were present in 12 of 733 patients with MS (1 .6%): three patients had parkinsonism, two blepharospasm, five hemifacial spasm, one hemidystonia, and one tourettism. MD in patients with MS are often secondary to demyelinating disease. Also in cases without response to steroid treatment and demyelinating lesions in critical regions, that MD and MS are causally related. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which monitors the wild rodents for evidence of environmental contamination by 5-fluoroedenite fiber, an asbestos-like substance, in Biancavilla, Italy. The authors collected wild rodents and performed anatomo-pathological examination, histopathology and scanning electron microscopy on lungs and lymph node tissues for evidence of dangerous fibres. The study revealed that wild rodents can represent as suitable and effective indicators of environmental contamination.

The article examines the disease outbreaks in goat herds which are characterized by severe polyarthritis, septicemia and respiratory disease in Sicily, Italy. The young goats are infected through the transmission of mycoplasm in milk. The disease occurs by sudden changes in the weather and poor management.

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses the case of 33-year-old woman and 49-year-old man, who were both affected by relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and have developed blepharospasm (BS) as a result of a left parietal demyelinating lesion.

The article describes an outbreak of respiratory and eye disease affecting a large number of racing and show pigeons in Great Britain. Mycoplasmas cause a range of diseases in birds in particular sinusitis, respiratory disease and eye disorders. Ocular and cloacal swabs were taken from 20 affected birds and cultured for mycoplasmas using standard procedures in Eaton's medium containing glucose and arginine. The study provides a strong but not conclusive evidence that M. columborale was the causative or synergistic agent in the present outbreak.

Describes the clinical presentation of dermatophilosis in goat in Sicily. Description of the cutaneous streptotrichosis; Causative pathogen for the disease and transmission of the infection among animals; Detection of the cutaneous lesion in goat.

We describe a rare case of hemoperitoneum due to spontaneous rupture of a giant cavernous hemangioma of the liver. CT demonstrated both the intraperitoneal hemorrhage and the hepatic lesion, which showed an atypical multicystic appearance. Furthermore, CT showed the site of rupture of the hemangioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of Turcot's syndrome is described in an 8-year-old girl. Turcot's syndrome is a rare hereditary disease in which malignant glioma of the central nervous system is associated with colonic polyposis. The patient initially presented with a left parietal glioblastoma diagnosed by computed tomography (CT), and was subsequently found to have nonfamilial colonic polyposis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]