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Since 2000 Italy has experienced five epidemics of bluetongue, an arthropod-borne disease that affects primarily sheep and asymptomatically cattle, goats and wildlife ruminants. In four years the disease spread through Southern and Central Italy, involving 14 Italian regions out of 20. To control the disease, the Ministry of Health established a surveillance system that included clinical, entomological and serological surveillance elements. The National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology--Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale'--developed a Web-based National Information System (NIS) and a Geographical Information System (GIS)to collect and manage data from Veterinary Services across Italy. The system was designed to gather and spread information in order to support the management of control activities and to provide an early warning system. Surveillance data are displayed to the user in different ways: reports, tables and interactive maps.

The genes coding for tRNA-Cys (trnC), tRNA-Asn (trnN) and tRNA-Tyr (trnY) have been sequenced in a region of about 3.0 kb of the sunflower mitochondrial DNA. The trnC and trnY are genuine mitochondrial genes, while the trnN gene has a chloroplast origin. Despite their heterologous origin the three genes are transcribed. Their arrangement is the first detected in a highly conserved form in a specific group of advanced dicots.

Since 2000 Italy has experienced five epidemics of bluetongue, an arthropod-borne disease that affects primarily sheep and asymptomatically cattle, goats and wildlife ruminants. In four years the disease spread through Southern and Central Italy, involving 14 Italian regions out of 20. To control the disease, the Ministry of Health established a surveillance system that included clinical, entomological and serological surveillance elements. The National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology--Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale'--developed a Web-based National Information System (NIS) and a Geographical Information System (GIS)to collect and manage data from Veterinary Services across Italy. The system was designed to gather and spread information in order to support the management of control activities and to provide an early warning system. Surveillance data are displayed to the user in different ways: reports, tables and interactive maps.

Transcatheter modification of the AV node with radiofrequency energy (RF) was performed in 6 patients (mean age 24 years) with inducible AV node reentry tachycardia (AVNRT). Although tachycardia could be controlled with antiarrhythmic drugs in each patient, the option was offered to eliminate the arrhythmia by means of RF catheter technique. A 7F catheter with 2 mm interelectrode distance and a large tip electrode was positioned to record the maximal His deflection, then withdrawn until the smallest possible His and ventricular potentials with a large atrial signal could be recorded. RF energy was delivered at this site in unipolar mode in incremental steps, until AVNRT was no longer inducible or VA block occurred. The procedure resulted in non-inducibility of tachycardia in 5/6 patients. The fast and the slow pathways were abolished in 2 and 1 patients, respectively, while the AV node duality persisted in 2 in spite of non-inducibility. VA block occurred in 2 patients, while the anterograde conduction was preserved in all. During the follow-up (mean 4.5 months) 5/6 patients remained free of AVNRT without drugs. It is concluded that transcatheter RF modulation of the AV node can be advised, provided that similar results will be obtained in larger series with longer follow-up, as the first line therapy in patients with AVNRT.

This article comparatively examines forms of (im)mobility among refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) in coping with dispersal process, restrictive migration policies and local socio-economic characteristics in three cities of Northern Italy. Drawing on qualitative data, it sheds light on the everyday forms of (im)mobility of RAS to resist structural barriers limiting their opportunities to access jobs and welfare services. The Results show that people's capacity to overcome barriers depends upon individual characteristics and informal networks, and is shaped by particularities of local contexts. While people's regular legal status is considered an important resource in achieving goals, refugees and holders of international protection often have to adopt (im)mobility practices to access resources in contexts that do not facilitate their integration. This article highlights the inefficiency of integration and reception policies and advances the theoretical debate on the link between being (im)mobile and agency by calling authors to pay more attention to the (in)voluntary nature of spatial (im)mobility. Finally, it shows the ambivalent outcome of (im)mobilities in terms of agency, highlighting the implications for individuals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Acid–base status in full-term pregnant women is characterised by hypocapnic alkalosis. Whether this respiratory alkalosis is primary or consequent to changes in CSF electrolytes is not clear. Methods: We enrolled third-trimester pregnant women (pregnant group) and healthy, non-pregnant women of childbearing age (controls) undergoing spinal anaesthesia for Caesarean delivery and elective surgery, respectively. Electrolytes, strong ion difference (SID), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO), and pH were measured in simultaneously collected CSF and arterial blood samples. Results: All pregnant women (20) were hypocapnic, whilst only four (30%) of the controls (13) had an arterial PaCO

Executive functions (EFs)’ development is critically affected by childhood adversity exposure. Although recent studies underlined the deleterious effects of early life stresses on working memory (WM) and inhibitory control, they were scarcely investigated in war context especially in relation with learning abilities. In order to fill this gap, we designed a research with the aim to evaluate EFs together with early math skills. In particular, we conducted a study involving 150 children divided into three groups: 48 Yazidis (Mage = 71 months, SD = 6.59), 47 Syrian refugees (Mage = 68.77 months, SD = 7, age), and 55 Italians (Mage = 68.65 months, SD = 2.88) attending the third year of kindergarten in Italy or inserted in Psyco-Social-Support activities in Iraq. The children were evaluated with a variety of tasks assessing WM, inhibitory control, counting, digit-quantity mapping, and digit naming skills. The results indicated substantial differences both in EFs and early numerical abilities between the deprived groups and the Italian children. Data are discussed in terms of implications for children both exposed to mainstream school environments and living in socio-economically disadvantaged and deprived contexts.