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Complications and long-term clinical outcomes for 15 dogs surgically treated for traumatic craniodorsal hip luxation by prosthetic capsule replacement (PCR) with a prosthetic ligament were retrospectively reviewed. A PCR technique with capsulorrhaphy was performed in all dogs using acetabular screws with washers and a femoral tunnel as anchor points for the polyester prosthetic ligament. A non–weight-bearing sling was not placed. Minimum 1 yr follow-up period was required for study inclusion. Two major complications (13.3%) consisting of craniodorsal hip reluxation (n = 1) and capital physeal fracture (n = 1) were observed. Minor complications (superficial skin necrosis) occurred in one case (6.7 %). The patient with craniodorsal hip reluxation underwent femoral head and neck ostectomy and was excluded from long-term analysis. In the 11 cases that returned for long-term (median, 3.8 yr; range, 19–75 mo) evaluation at the authors’ institution, 10/11 of the dogs were clinically sound. Three dogs did not return for long-term evaluation. However, telephone interview with owners minimum1 yr after surgery indicated normal limb function and absence of complications in all three cases. These results suggest that PCR with polyester prosthetic ligament can be successful in maintaining hip reduction in dogs with craniodorsal hip luxation.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with alterations in heart rate variability (HRV) in relation to chronic autonomic dysfunction. We tested the ability of the deep breathing technique -a simple way to evaluate HRV- to identify OSAS patients.Consecutive patients referred for suspected OSAS (without obesity, diabetes and heart diseases) were included. They underwent a measure of HRV at rest, and of heart rate (HR) oscillations during expiration vs. inspiration (DeltaHROf 31 included subjects (77% male), 14 had mild to moderate OSAS (apnea/hypopnea index, AHI median [IQR]: 18 [12]), and 17 had no OSAS. The conventional HRV analysis did not reveal any difference between the groups with vs. without OSAS. However, the DeltaHRThe deep breathing technique accurately identifies a reduction in cardiac changes in patients with mild to moderate OSAS. It could be used as a simple screening tool to select patients for polysomnography.

Generating big-data is becoming imperative with the advent of machine learning. RIN-Neuroimaging Network addresses this need by developing harmonized protocols for multisite studies to identify quantitative MRI (qMRI) biomarkers for neurological diseases. In this context, image quality control (QC) is essential. Here, we present methods and results of how the RIN performs intra- and inter-site reproducibility of geometrical and image contrast parameters, demonstrating the relevance of such QC practice.American College of Radiology (ACR) large and small phantoms were selected. Eighteen sites were equipped with a 3T scanner that differed by vendor, hardware/software versions, and receiver coils. The standard ACR protocol was optimized (in-plane voxel, post-processing filters, receiver bandwidth) and repeated monthly. Uniformity, ghosting, geometric accuracy, ellipse's ratio, slice thickness, and high-contrast detectability tests were performed using an automatic QC script.Measures were mostly within the ACR tolerance ranges for both T1- and T2-weighted acquisitions, for all scanners, regardless of vendor, coil, and signal transmission chain type. All measurements showed good reproducibility over time. Uniformity and slice thickness failed at some sites. Scanners that upgraded the signal transmission chain showed a decrease in geometric distortion along the slice encoding direction. Inter-vendor differences were observed in uniformity and geometric measurements along the slice encoding direction (i.e. ellipse's ratio).Use of the ACR phantoms highlighted issues that triggered interventions to correct performance at some sites and to improve the longitudinal stability of the scanners. This is relevant for establishing precision levels for future multisite studies of qMRI biomarkers.

The construction of artificial reservoirs for hydropower production strongly alters sediment connectivity, which often produces significant impacts on the river reaches downstream morphology. Assessing sediment connectivity and transport variations is therefore crucial for predicting possible fluvial morphological trajectories and to define scientifically-based management practices in terms of water and sediment releases from Alpine reservoirs. For this reason APRIE, the agency responsible for hydropower regulation in the Trento Province (Italy), is carrying out a project to assess impacts caused by existing hydropower plants, in collaboration with the University of Trento.We focused on the study case of the Travignolo River, a tributary of the Avisio River in the Dolomites. The valley longitudinal connectivity has been completely interrupted by the Forte Buso dam construction in 1953 and by a series of smaller derivations from the main tributaries. We aim at understanding to what extent the presence of the dam affects the overall sediment connectivity, by assessing the relative contribution of sediment sources that currently drain into the lake with respect to the sources that are still connected to the Travignolo River, and by evaluating to what extent the disconnectivity has compromised the morphological equilibrium of the river.To this aim, structural and functional sediment connectivity are analysed through a three step integrated approach, considering connectivity at different spatial scales. First, fluvial morphological trajectories have been studied by investigating a dataset of historical images, which allowed us to identify both morphological changes and vegetation growth. Second, sediment connectivity has been modelled at the hillslope scale through the hydrological index of connectivity calculated by applying the SedInConnect model (Crema, S. & Cavalli, M., 2018, Computational Geosciences) on the basis of terrain elevation data and information on Quaternary deposits. The model allowed us to determine the potential sediment yield contribution from the different subbasins, as well as the position of sediment sources depending on their characteristic grain size. Finally, a quantitative analysis of sediment longitudinal connectivity has been carried on by applying the CASCADE Toolbox model (Tangi, M. et al., 2019, Environmental Modelling & Software) to the main river network of the Travignolo basin. Information on surface and subsurface grain size distribution have been obtained by collecting several samples along the main course of the Travignolo River and along their main tributaries, while channel width was estimated by analysing the high-resolution digital elevation model. To calibrate CASCADE model we have compared the predicted grain size distribution cascades with the measured subsurface composition. Furthermore, we have performed several simulations considering different methods of data spatialization and different choices of the main parameters, to obtain a general assessment of the model uncertainties.Results highlight the potential sediment contributions of different subbasins to the fluvial system, depending on their geological characteristics, slope and distance from the permanent drainage network. Moreover, the analysis of multiple scenarios reveals how sediment transport processes are strongly affected by the dam presence and how they may change depending on water delivery strategies.

IntroductionNeural circuit alterations lay at the core of brain physiopathology, and yet are hard to unveil in living subjects. Virtual brain modelling (TVB), by exploiting structural and functional MRI, yields mesoscopic parameters of connectivity and synaptic transmission.MethodsWe used TVB to simulate brain networks, which are key for human brain function, in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) patients, whose connectivity and synaptic parameters remain largely unknown; we then compared them to healthy controls, to reveal novel in vivo pathological hallmarks.ResultsThe pattern of simulated parameter differed between AD and FTD, shedding light on disease-specific alterations in brain networks. Individual subjects displayed subtle differences in network parameter patterns that significantly correlated with their individual neuropsychological, clinical, and pharmacological profiles.DiscussionThese TVB simulations, by informing about a new personalized set of networks parameters, open new perspectives for understanding dementias mechanisms and design personalized therapeutic approaches.

We study the spectral theory for the first-order system $Ju'+qu=wf$ of differential equations on the real interval $(a,b)$ where $J$ is a constant, invertible, skew-hermitian matrix and $q$ and $w$ are matrices whose entries are distributions of order $0$ with $q$ hermitian and $w$ non-negative. Specifically, we construct a generalized Weyl-Titchmarsh $m$-function with corresponding spectral measure $\tau$ and a generalized Fourier transform after imposing certain conditions on $J$, $q$, and $w$. Different conditions are motivated and studied in the later sections. A Fatou-type identity needed for our result is recorded in the appendix.

Background. Volunteers’ participation in scientific research has increased in recent decades. Citizen science (CS) data have been used in quantitative ecology to analyse species ranges by means of species distribution models. We investigated the Italian distribution of five large saproxylic beetles (big five), to describe their niche space, paramount areas for their conservation, and conservation gaps. Methods. CS data from two projects, climate and environmental variables were used to produce Habitat suitability (HS) maps for each species and averaged HS maps. The big five’s conservation status was assessed interpolating HS maps with the distribution of protected areas, concomitantly identifying conservation gaps. Results. The pre-alpine and Apennines arcs, north-eastern Sicily and eastern Sardinia, were identified as conservation’s hotspots. Ranking HS levels from minimum to optimal, the extent of conservation gaps decreases as environmental suitability for the big five increases. Conclusions. For the first time in Italy, CS data have been used to investigate niche space of the largest protected saproxylic beetles and analyse the distribution of their suitable habitat. The resulting HS raster maps and vector layers, reporting HS value in all Italian protected areas (n° 3771), were provided and discussed, reporting an application example for conservation purposes.

This paper is a contribution to the spectral theory associated with the differential equation $Ju'+qu=wf$ on the real interval $(a,b)$ when $J$ is a constant, invertible skew-Hermitian matrix and $q$ and $w$ are matrices whose entries are distributions of order zero with $q$ Hermitian and $w$ non-negative. Under these hypotheses it may not be possible to uniquely continue a solution from one point to another, thus blunting the standard tools of spectral theory. Despite this fact we are able to describe symmetric restrictions of the maximal relation associated with $Ju'+qu=wf$ and show the existence of Green's functions for self-adjoint relations even if unique continuation of solutions fails.

This entry overviews the pioneering experimental studies exploiting eye movement data to investigate language processing in real time. After examining how vision and language were found to be closely related, herein focus the discussion on the evolution of eye-tracking methodologies to investigate children’s language development. To conclude, herein provide some insights about the use of eye-tracking technology for research purposes, focusing on data collection and data analysis.

The introduction of computerized medical records in hospitals has reduced burdensome operations like manual writing and information fetching. However, the data contained in medical records are still far underutilized, primarily because extracting them from unstructured textual medical records takes time and effort. Information Extraction, a subfield of Natural Language Processing, can help clinical practitioners overcome this limitation, using automated text-mining pipelines. In this work, we created the first Italian neuropsychiatric Named Entity Recognition dataset, PsyNIT, and used it to develop a Large Language Model for this task. Moreover, we conducted several experiments with three external independent datasets to implement an effective multicenter model, with overall F1-score 84.77%, Precision 83.16%, Recall 86.44%. The lessons learned are: (i) the crucial role of a consistent annotation process and (ii) a fine-tuning strategy that combines classical methods with a "few-shot" approach. This allowed us to establish methodological guidelines that pave the way for future implementations in this field and allow Italian hospitals to tap into important research opportunities.

Il pensiero richiede i suoi tempi: solo la riflessione paziente, elaborata e critica può permettere di cogliere appieno l’articolazione profonda delle mediazioni che informano la realtà. È questa una delle lezioni di metodo (ma il metodo non è già di per sé strutturazione di un qualche contenuto?) lasciata da Alessandro Mazzone (1932-2012). Filosofo marxista formatosi sotto la guida di figure come Banfi, Geymonat e della Volpe, Mazzone ha insegnato per molti anni a Santiago de Cuba, Messina, Berlino e, soprattutto, Siena. E proprio a Siena, per iniziativa di un gruppo di ex-studenti, è recentemente nata l’associazione Laboratorio Critico, che, sotto la guida di Roberto Fineschi, si propone di ricordare e sviluppare l’importante contributo teorico di Mazzone. Il primo volume pubblicato da quest’associazione (in collaborazione con la Rete dei Comunisti) è Per una teoria del conflitto, una raccolta di scritti risalenti all’ultimo decennio di vita di Mazzone.

All the abstracts of the Final Conference of the project LIFE17 ESC/IT/001 ‘‘LIFE ESC 360’’ - 360 volunteers for monitoring forest biodiversity in the Italian Natura 2000 Network have been gathered in the present publication. LIFE ESC360 started in November 2018 and aimed at engaging young volunteers (aged 18—30) in the monitoring of protected species and habitats in Italian Natura 2000 sites managed by six Reparti Carabinieri Biodiversità (RCB) (project booklet is available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7400475). At the end of the project (June 2022), a Final Conference was held in the Nature Reserve Murge Orientali (RCB Martina Franca), one of the study areas investigated within LIFE ESC360. The conference disseminated the project outcomes and focused on the characteristics and impacts of environmental volunteering. Moreover, a specific session was dedicated to similar citizen science experiences, with the contributions by researchers of other projects. Finally, this networking event promoted the sharing of experiences and best practices and encouraged future initiatives., The project partnership included Arma dei Carabinieri - Comando Unità Forestali, Ambientali Agroalimentari - Raggruppamento Carabinieri Biodiversità (coordinator), Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria - Centro di ricerca Difesa e Certificazione di Firenze (CREA-DC) (associated beneficiary) and D.R.E.Am. Italia Soc. Coop (associated beneficiary). LIFE ESC360 as well as its Final Conference was co-financed by the LIFE ESC Programme of the European Union Project n. LIFE 17/ESC/IT/001 (https://www.life360esc.eu/it/)

La pubblicazione “Il monitoraggio di specie e habitat protetti con il coinvolgimento di volontari: l’esperienza del progetto LIFE ESC360” descrive l’esperienza del progetto LIFE17 ESC/IT/001 “360 volunteers for monitoring forest biodiversity in the Italian Natura 2000 Network” (LIFE ESC360). LIFE ESC360 ha avuto inizio nel 2018, nell’ambito di due programmi della Commissione Europea: il programma LIFE, che finanzia progetti per la tutela dell’ambiente e della biodiversità, e il Corpo Europeo di Solidarietà, che coordina progetti di volontariato a scala europea per giovani dai 18 ai 30 anni. LIFE ESC360 aveva l’obiettivo di coinvolgere giovani volontari per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat protetti all’interno dei siti Natura 2000 italiani gestiti dall’Arma dei Carabinieri, attraverso un’esperienza di volontariato residenziale. Il libro qui presentato è stato prodotto in occasione della conclusione del progetto (giugno 2022) e si rivolge a un ampio pubblico di non addetti ai lavori, con lo scopo di raccontare l’esperienza del progetto, informare sui risultati ottenuti e fornire buone pratiche per replicare l’esperienza del progetto in altri contesti. La pubblicazione ripercorre le numerose azioni realizzate dal 2018 al 2022, a partire dal reclutamento e la formazione dei volontari (più di 300 in totale), fino ad arrivare alle attività di monitoraggio in campo e agli eventi di disseminazione. Una sezione di approfondimento è inoltre dedicata alle specie e gli habitat obiettivo del progetto, con approfondimenti relativi ai protocolli di monitoraggio utilizzati e i principali risultati ottenuti. All’interno del volume vi sono inoltre più di 100 immagini scattate durante il progetto, soprattutto dagli stessi volontari. Il lavoro è stato prodotto dallo staff di progetto, con l’attiva collaborazione di tutti i partner: Il Raggruppamento Biodiversità dell’Arma dei Carabinieri, il CREA Centro di ricerca Difesa e Certificazione, la Società Cooperativa D.R.E.Am. Italia., Questa pubblicazione è stata realizzata con il contributo finanziario del Programma LIFE ESC dell'Unione Europea.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a hereditary and sporadic neurodegenerative illness defined by the gradual and cumulative loss of neurons in specific brain areas. The processes that cause AD are still under investigation and there are no available therapies to halt it. Current progress puts at the forefront the "calcium (Ca

Piezoelectric materials are a class of compounds that is gaining increasing interest in various applications such as energy harvesting. During the last decade, lead-free ZnSnO3 perovskite ceramic has gained attention among the scientific community thanks to its unique symmetry-dependent and spontaneous polarization properties such as piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity. Nevertheless, only a few studies successfully prepared pure ZnSnO3, while most seem to mislead the product for its hydroxide precursor (ZnSn(OH)6) or a mixture of Zn2SnO4 and SnO2. In our work, we investigated the conversion of ZnSn(OH)6 at different temperatures (500, 600, 700, 750 and 800 °C) by X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and in-situ using synchrotron radiation up to 950 °C under ambient atmosphere and in a vacuum, to reproduce conventional reaction conditions. SEM and TEM have been used to understand the evolution of the particle shape and surface structure before and after the thermal treatments. Our results show the instability of the ZnSn(OH)6 phase, which converts into an amorphous structure at low temperature. Above 750 °C, the material segregates into Zn2SnO4 and SnO2, supporting the hypothesis that the thermal treatment of the hydroxide phase under typical conditions results in the formation of an oxide mixture rather than the phase pure ZnSnO3. European Social Fund

Neuroinformatics is a research field that focuses on software tools capable of identifying, analysing, modelling, organising and sharing multi-scale neuroscience data. Neuroinformatics has exploded in the last two decades with the emergence of the Big-Data phenomenon, characterised by the so-called 3Vs (Volume, Velocity, and Variety), which provided neuroscientists with an improved ability to acquire and process data faster and more cheaply thanks to technical improvements in clinical, genomic, and radiological technologies. This situation has led to a "data deluge", as neuroscientists can routinely collect more study-data in a few days than they could in a year just a decade ago. To address this phenomenon, several neuroimaging-focused neuroinformatics platforms have emerged, funded by national or transnational agencies, with the following goals: (i) development of tools for archiving and organising analytical data (XNAT, REDCap, and LabKey); (ii) development of data-driven models evolving from reductionist approaches to multidimensional models (RIN, IVN, HBD, EuroPOND, E-DADS, GAAIN, BRAIN); and (iii) development of e-infrastructures to provide sufficient computational power and storage resources (neuGRID, HBP-EBRAINS, LONI, CONP). Although the scenario is still fragmented, there are technological and economical attempts at both national and international levels to introduce high standards for open and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) neuroscience worldwide.

Wireless optoelectronic devices are fabricated by controlling the porosity of p-type silicon, enabling in vivo efficient, non-genetic optoelectronic modulation of peripheral nerve activity.

Study objectives: Fluid overload shifting from the legs to the upper airway during sleep promotes obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and interventions targeting fluid attenuate OSA. Fluid shift has been previously measured by bioelectrical impedance, a complex and time-consuming technique not applicable in the daily clinical settings. The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of clinically detectable fluid overload and shift and its association with OSA. Methods: Patients undergoing sleep study for suspected OSA were asked to report the presence of 11 signs/symptoms associated to excessive accumulation of fluid in different parts of the body at different times of the day. Results: Among 392 patients (male: 53%, median [interquartile range] age: 56years [1], body mass index, BMI: 29kg/m2 [2]) included in the study, 135 (34%) had moderate-to-severe OSA (apnea hypopnea index, AHI ≥ 15). Daytime fluid accumulation and nocturnal fluid shift, clinically detectable by patient-reported “evening sock marks,” “heavy legs during the day,” and “morning stuffed nose,” were prevalent in the entire population (46%, 43%, and 33%, respectively). In multivariate analysis, evening sock marks was an independent correlate of having an AHI ≥ 15, together with male sex, older age, and self-reported snoring and apneas. Conclusions: Clinically detectable fluid overload and shift are prevalent in patients addressed for suspected OSA, and evening sock marks, a marker for leg swelling, is an independent correlate of moderate-to-severe OSA. This sign might contribute to OSA diagnosis and identification of patients likely to be treated by interventions targeting fluid overload and shift.

Due to the high rate of infection and the lack of a specific vaccine or medication for the new disease known as SARS-CoV2, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as the main measure to avoid or reduce infections. One way to maximize compliance with this recommendation is through an automatic system that can recognize in real time whether a person is correctly using the corresponding PPE. This work presents the design, implementation and performance analysis of a system for recognizing the use of masks from image sequences, with the ability to operate in real time. Based on a generic object detection network, a training scheme is proposed for a detector of faces with masks and faces without masks, wherewith an average detection accuracy higher than 90% is obtained. This accuracy can be improved by using a network with a greater number of parameters, but with a longer computation time. The performance of the detector is validated with video sequences of people with and without facemasks, captured in different environments.

CMOS optical sensors devices are becoming increasingly important and popular for many different applications. Some of these devices are fabricated starting from SOI wafers and using semiconductor manufacturing techniques. A common feature of the CMOS sensors is the isolating trench that protects the device from electrical noise. In our particular application, the trench is much deeper than usual, in order to isolate the sensor also from stray light interference. In the present paper we describe the multistep etch process used to create the trench rounding all around the sensor chip. First a silicon oxide HM (Hard Mask) is etched in a CCP (Capacitively Coupled Plasma) chamber with a recess in silicon as shallow as possible to preserve the photo-resist; then an ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) reactor is used to etch 23um silicon etch, landing onto a 1um BOX (Buried OXide) layer. Finally the BOX is etched with a dedicated step followed by a second silicon etch to get a deeper isolating trench, both steps performed in the same ICP chamber. The trench layout is lined internally by a closed-loop metal line that is buried in the HM stack. While working on the process development, an unexpected asymmetrical slope of the BOX sidewalls was observed. This has prompted us to focus the attention to the BOX etch and the effect that an applied electromagnetic field and its interaction with the metal line, exert on the etch behaviour. The plasma chamber employed for the BOX and silicon etch is a reactor with a top ICP source and a platen electrode, powered by two independent RF generators, both at 13.56MHz. The peculiarity of this etcher is to have an additional coil – where a high value continuous electrical current flows - used to modulate the plasma shape in the chamber. The initial BOX etch recipe applied had been used successfully in the past for similar scopes. However when it was employed for this specific application, the subsequent XSEM inspection highlighted an asymmetrical shape of the sidewalls, in different locations on the wafer. In particular the sidewall opposite to the metal line always shows an accentuated slope, compared to the other that is straight and vertical. Starting from this observation, we assumed there was an influence of the presence of the metal line during the BOX etch. The hypothesis is that the electromagnetic field generated by the additional coil of the etcher, couples with the metal lines, acting as spires on the wafer, resulting in a local electromagnetic field that has an effect on electron and ion trajectories during the etch. The result of this is the local asymmetry of the sidewalls. To prove this hypothesis, three additional tests have been executed, so to have four distinct conditions: 1) BOX etch with Coil Current ON and metal spires buried in the HM stack; 2) BOX etch with Coil Current OFF and metal spires buried in the HM stack; 3) BOX etch with Coil Current ON and NO metal spires buried in the HM stack; 4) BOX etch with Coil Current OFF and NO metal spires buried in the HM stack. The results of these tests confirm the influence of the electromagnetic field generated by the additional coil, since it gives asymmetric features in both conditions 1) and 3), and not in conditions 2) and 4). At the same time the coupling with the metal spires has an influence too, since it gives a local asymmetry in condition 1) and a wafer level asymmetry in condition 3). Figure 1

Neural interfaces are bioelectronic devices capable of stimulating a population of neurons or nerve fascicles and recording electrical signals in a specific area. Despite their success in restoring sensory-motor functions in people with disabilities, their long-term exploitation is still limited by poor biocompatibility, mechanical mismatch between the device and neural tissue and the risk of a chronic inflammatory response upon implantation.In this context, the use of nature-derived materials can help address these issues. Examples of these materials, such as extracellular matrix proteins, peptides, lipids and polysaccharides, have been employed for decades in biomedical science. Their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability in the absence of toxic compound release, physiochemical properties that are similar to those of human tissues and reduced immunogenicity make them outstanding candidates to improve neural interface biocompatibility and long-term implantation safety. The objective of this review is to highlight progress and challenges concerning the impact of nature-derived materials on neural interface design. The use of these materials as biocompatible coatings and as building blocks of insulation materials for use in implantable neural interfaces is discussed. Moreover, future perspectives are presented to show the increasingly important uses of these materials for neural interface fabrication and their possible use for other applications in the framework of neural engineering.

L’objectif de la présente étude est de connaître les recommandations scientifiques quant à la pratique de la thérapie orofaciale myofonctionnelle en orthophonie et au sein du réseau pluridisciplinaire de professionnels prenant en charge des enfants souffrant de troubles de la fonction ventilatoire. Ce mémoire propose des lignes directrices d’évaluation et de rééducation issues de la littérature scientifique actuelle pouvant servir de boîte à outils à destination des orthophonistes. Les recherches récentes attribuent une importance majeure au désordre ventilatoire dans le cadre des troubles orofaciaux myofonctionnels pédiatriques. Pour cause, la ventilation est la fonction socle à laquelle toutes les autres fonctions oro-myo-faciales s’adaptent. Dès lors, le trouble ventilatoire est le point de départ d’une cascade d'événements négatifs ayant des répercussions sur le développement morphologique, fonctionnel et cognitif compromettant durablement la qualité de vie de l’enfant. Le dépistage précoce d’une ventilation dysfonctionnelle dans la population pédiatrique est primordial. En effet, orienter les patients vers des orthophonistes habilités à évaluer, diagnostiquer et prendre en charge un mode ventilatoire pathologique permettra d’enrayer les conséquences délétères susceptibles de s’installer. La thérapie orofaciale myofonctionnelle est basée sur la réhabilitation posturale, musculaire et fonctionnelle de la sphère orofaciale et sur l’accompagnement du patient et de son entourage vers l’adoption de comportements adéquats. Compte tenu des multiples manifestations cliniques relevant de nombreux domaines médicaux et paramédicaux, une dynamique pluridisciplinaire s’impose. Dans cette même perspective, il incombe à l’ensemble des professionnels de santé de ce réseau d’agir à titre préventif en faisant la promotion de ces bonnes pratiques auprès de cette population d’adultes en devenir. Pour conclure, agir précocement et de concert afin de promouvoir un état orofacial myofonctionnel harmonieux chez l’enfant relève d’un véritable enjeu de santé publique.

Neuroimaging studies often lack reproducibility, one of the cardinal features of the scientific method. Multisite collaboration initiatives increase sample size and limit methodological flexibility, therefore providing the foundation for increased statistical power and generalizable results. However, multisite collaborative initiatives are inherently limited by hardware, software, and pulse and sequence design heterogeneities of both clinical and preclinical MRI scanners and the lack of benchmark for acquisition protocols, data analysis, and data sharing. We present the overarching vision that yielded to the constitution of RIN-Neuroimaging Network, a national consortium dedicated to identifying disease and subject-specific in-vivo neuroimaging biomarkers of diverse neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. This ambitious goal needs efforts toward increasing the diagnostic and prognostic power of advanced MRI data. To this aim, 23 Italian Scientific Institutes of Hospitalization and Care (IRCCS), with technological and clinical specialization in the neurological and neuroimaging field, have gathered together. Each IRCCS is equipped with high- or ultra-high field MRI scanners (i.e., ≥3T) for clinical or preclinical research or has established expertise in MRI data analysis and infrastructure. The actions of this Network were defined across several work packages (WP). A clinical work package (WP1) defined the guidelines for a minimum standard clinical qualitative MRI assessment for the main neurological diseases. Two neuroimaging technical work packages (WP2 and WP3, for clinical and preclinical scanners) established Standard Operative Procedures for quality controls on phantoms as well as advanced harmonized quantitative MRI protocols for studying the brain of healthy human participants and wild type mice. Under FAIR principles, a web-based e-infrastructure to store and share data across sites was also implemented (WP4). Finally, the RIN translated all these efforts into a large-scale multimodal data collection in patients and animal models with dementia (i.e., case study). The RIN-Neuroimaging Network can maximize the impact of public investments in research and clinical practice acquiring data across institutes and pathologies with high-quality and highly-consistent acquisition protocols, optimizing the analysis pipeline and data sharing procedures.

In recent years, a great deal of effort has been undertaken with regards to treatment of pathologies at the level of the central nervous system (CNS). Here, the presence of the blood-brain barrier acts as an obstacle to the delivery of potentially effective drugs and makes accessibility to, and treatment of, the CNS one of the most significant challenges in medicine. In this Roadmap article, we present the status of the timeliest developments in the field, and identify the outstanding challenges and opportunities that exist. The format of the Roadmap, whereby experts in each discipline share their viewpoint and present their vision, reflects the dynamic and multidisciplinary nature of this research area, and is intended to generate dialogue and collaboration across traditional subject areas. It is stressed here that this article is not intended to act as a comprehensive review article, but rather an up-to-date and forward-looking summary of research methodologies pertaining to the treatment of pathologies at the level of the CNS.

A PolSAR is an active sensing device capable of providing images that are robust against variations of weather and atmosphere conditions, irrespective of the time of the day they were acquired. For an efficient use of these images it is necessary to have algorithms capable of classifying these images to generate maps with their content automatically. This paper presents the extension of a PolSAR image classification method based on exponential Fisher Vectors, a Potts smoothing model and different similarity measures. With the proposed extension, improvements in classification with respect to the base method are achieved. Future work consists in extending the codification so as not to have to discard the imaginary part of the data.

River bifurcations play a crucial role in the morphodynamics of multi-thread channel systems such as braiding or anastomosing rivers, deltas and alluvial fans, as they guide the downstream distribution of water and sediment fluxes. Several experimental and theoretical studies have highlighted the unstable character of bifurcations, even in the case of a symmetric planform configuration and steady boundary conditions, which results in a differential erosion/deposition in the downstream channels and leads to equilibrium states where the flow distribution can be highly unbalanced, sometimes causing the complete closure of one of the anabranches. However, the dynamics of natural bifurcations are always influenced by external unsteady forcing factors, such as water discharge variations due to the hydrological regime, changes in downstream water depth (e.g. because of tidal excursions or interactions between discharge variations and local constraints) and the presence of migrating bedforms. The effect of such factors on the bifurcation’s evolutionary process velocity and equilibrium states’ flow balance remains widely unexplored: in this work we seek to address this gap, also focusing on the interplay between the factors’ characteristic timescales and the bifurcation’s “intrinsic” timescale (i.e. the one related to its autogenic instability mechanism). In particular, we investigate the effect of a time-dependent downstream water surface elevation Hd on the behaviour of a simple bifurcation. To this purpose, we model the upstream channel and the two anabranches employing a 1-D shallow-water numerical scheme, coupled with the two-cell nodal point relationship proposed by Bolla Pittaluga et al. (2003) to determine water and sediment partition at the bifurcation node. Starting from a stable, unbalanced equilibrium configuration, we let Hd vary according to linear and sinusoidal functions of time, with the aim of reproducing –in a very simplified fashion– natural phenomena such as backwater effects in braided rivers. Bifurcations response shows a strong dependence on the forcing timescale: specifically, the system reacts accordingly to the ratio between the rate of change of Hd and the bifurcation’s intrinsic timescale. In particular, when the two scales show comparable values, the system behaviour is governed by the competition between the external forcing and the intrinsic dynamic response. Such competition allows the bifurcation to reach a regime configuration, whose water and sediment partitionings differ from the initial conditions: specifically, a steady increase of Hd leads to a more balanced configuration, while a decrease of Hd enhances system asymmetry. On the other hand, when variations of Hd are fast with respect to the intrinsic timescale, the bifurcation response increases in magnitude, often leading to an avulsion. This dual behaviour is closely related to the width-to-depth ratio β; specifically, the rate of change at which avulsion occurs is lower for higher values of β. Ultimately, this modelling framework can be extended to model the unsteady response of fluvial bifurcations to a variety of possible deterministic and stochastic forcing conditions, including hydrological variations of flow discharge.

Understanding the possible geomorphic trajectory of rivers on the scale of decades is crucial for a successful design of river restoration interventions, especially in the contest of a changing climate. In this contribution we focus on river alternate bars, large bedforms that appear as a repeating sequence of diagonal depositional fronts and scour holes. Downstream-migrating alternate bars can spontaneously form due to a well-known process of riverbed instability and are frequently found in channelized river reaches. We considered two study reaches of the Alpine Rhine River in Switzerland, characterized by similar hydrological and sedimentological characteristics, but different channel width. Expected hydrological changes until 2100, depending on the Representative Concentration Pathways for greenhouse gases, were evaluated by considering the recents projections from the Hydro-CH2018 project. The bar evolution was reproduced through the novel mathematical model developed by Carlin et al. (2021), which allows for simulating the temporal variability of the reach-averaged bar height in the long-term. Model’s results clearly show that the expected response of the river bed strongly depends on channel conditions with respect to the relevant morphodynamics threshold for bar formation. The first reach, which is sufficiently wide to allow for a full development of migrating alternate bars, turns out to be weakly sensitive to the projected hydrological alterations. Conversely the second, narrower reach, which is currently close to the threshold conditions, is expected to experience a remarkable alteration in bar dynamics. Specifically, the average bar height is expected to significantly increase, while its variability during flood events will probably drastically reduce. Ultimately, this work reveals a noteworthy example of a more general property of near-threshold geomorphic systems, which are potentially fragile and highly susceptible to changes of their hydrological and ecological conditions, in contrast to systems that being far from threshold conditions are more likely to maintain their physical characteristics in the long term.

UNSTRUCTURED We created a more affordable and accurate electronic stethoscope because current electronic stethoscope products on the market are expensive, imprecise, and can amplify ambient noise. Our inexpensive electronic stethoscope is capable of filtering out noise and providing different channels to detect abnormal heart/lung sounds which makes auscultation easier and improves medical diagnosis. We also included other features like an OLED livedisplay for on-board, real-time, visualization of the sound signals, SD card storage to store heart/lung sound data for user convenience of medical analysis, a Bluetooth module that allows this product to be used at a distance, and offline data stream analysis through a post-recording program based on machine learning. Overall, our product is inexpensive and user-friendly that benefits not only medical professionals but also anyone with access to the device, regardless of medical availability or experience.

For Alzheimer’s disease (AD), aging is the main risk factor, but whether cognitive impairments due to aging resemble early AD deficits is not yet defined. When working with mouse models of AD, the situation is just as complicated, because only a few studies track the progression of the disease at different ages, and most ignore how the aging process affects control mice. In this work, we addressed this problem by comparing the aging process of PS2APP (AD) and wild-type (WT) mice at the level of spontaneous brain electrical activity under anesthesia. Using local field potential recordings, obtained with a linear probe that traverses the posterior parietal cortex and the entire hippocampus, we analyzed how multiple electrical parameters are modified by aging in AD and WT mice. With this approach, we highlighted AD specific features that appear in young AD mice prior to plaque deposition or that are delayed at 12 and 16 months of age. Furthermore, we identified aging characteristics present in WT mice but also occurring prematurely in young AD mice. In short, we found that reduction in the relative power of slow oscillations (SO) and Low/High power imbalance are linked to an AD phenotype at its onset. The loss of SO connectivity and cortico-hippocampal coupling between SO and higher frequencies as well as the increase in UP-state and burst durations are found in young AD and old WT mice. We show evidence that the aging process is accelerated by the mutant PS2 itself and discuss such changes in relation to amyloidosis and gliosis.

The objective of this study is to validate the specific questionnaire for Hepatitis B HBQOL (Hepatitis B Quality of Life Instrument, version 1.0) for the Brazilian version, in addition to testing its applicability in patients with hepatitis B under treatment and comparing the quality of life between patients using first-line drugs (tenofovir and entecavir). For the validation, the back-translation technique was used in a sample of 47 patients. Factor analysis was performed between the items in each domain of the questionnaire and the internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach's α coefficient. In assessing the applicability of the validated questionnaire, interviews were carried out with 124 patients. Sociodemographic and treatment data were collected to characterize the sample and perform correlation analyzes. The results demonstrate that the Brazilian version of the questionnaire was successfully validated. In the analysis carried out among the 124 patients, the domains psychological well-being and stigma obtained the highest scores in quality of life and the lowest level of education conferred better results in these two domains. The comparison between tenofovir and entecavir showed no significant difference in patients' quality of life. The use of this validated instrument can make therapeutic decisions more rational.

Chromosome structure in mammals is thought to regulate transcription by modulating three-dimensional interactions between enhancers and promoters, notably through CTCF-mediated loops and topologically associating domains (TADs)1–4. However, how chromosome interactions are actually translated into transcriptional outputs remains unclear. Here, to address this question, we use an assay to position an enhancer at large numbers of densely spaced chromosomal locations relative to a fixed promoter, and measure promoter output and interactions within a genomic region with minimal regulatory and structural complexity. A quantitative analysis of hundreds of cell lines reveals that the transcriptional effect of an enhancer depends on its contact probabilities with the promoter through a nonlinear relationship. Mathematical modelling suggests that nonlinearity might arise from transient enhancer–promoter interactions being translated into slower promoter bursting dynamics in individual cells, therefore uncoupling the temporal dynamics of interactions from those of transcription. This uncovers a potential mechanism of how distal enhancers act from large genomic distances, and of how topologically associating domain boundaries block distal enhancers. Finally, we show that enhancer strength also determines absolute transcription levels as well as the sensitivity of a promoter to CTCF-mediated transcriptional insulation. Our measurements establish general principles for the context-dependent role of chromosome structure in long-range transcriptional regulation.