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Abstract Objective To investigate the Italian experience on the surgical and radiosurgical treatment of drug‐resistant epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) in the period 2011–2021 in six Italian epilepsy surgery centers, and to compare safety and efficacy profiles of the different techniques. Methods We collected pseudo‐anonymized patient's data with at least 12 months of follow‐up. Surgical outcome was defined according to Engel classification of seizure outcome. Univariate analysis was performed to assess the risk of post‐operative seizures, categorized in dichotomous variable as favorable and unfavorable; explanatory variables were considered. Mann–Whitney or Chi‐squared test were used to assess the presence of an association between variables (p

This review paper examines the current landscape of electricity market modelling, specifically focusing on stochastic approaches, transitioning from Mean Field Games (MFGs) to Neural Network (NN) modelling. The central objective is to scrutinize and synthesize evolving modelling strategies within power systems, facilitating technological advancements in the contemporary electricity market. This paper emphasizes the assessment of model efficacy, particularly in the context of MFG and NN applications. Our findings shed light on the diversity of models, offering practical insights into their strengths and limitations, thereby providing a valuable resource for researchers, policy makers, and industry practitioners. The review guides navigating and leveraging the latest stochastic modelling techniques for enhanced decision making and improved market operations.

Introduction: The management of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD-An) presents significant challenges for nephrologists due to variable responsiveness to erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs), hemoglobin (Hb) cycling, and multiple clinical factors affecting erythropoiesis. The Anemia Control Model (ACM) is a decision support system designed to personalize anemia treatment, which has shown improvements in achieving Hb targets, reducing ESA doses, and maintaining Hb stability. This study aimed to evaluate the association between ACM-guided anemia management with hospitalizations and survival in a large cohort of hemodialysis patients. Methods: This multi-center, retrospective cohort study evaluated adult hemodialysis patients within the European Fresenius Medical Care NephroCare network from 2014 to 2019. Patients treated according to ACM recommendations were compared to those from centers without ACM. Data on demographics, comorbidities, and dialysis treatment were used to compute a propensity score estimating the likelihood of receiving ACM-guided care. The primary endpoint was hospitalizations during follow-up; the secondary endpoint was survival. A 1:1 propensity score-matched design was used to minimize confounding bias. Results: A total of 20,209 eligible patients were considered (reference group: 17,101; ACM adherent group: 3108). Before matching, the mean age was 65.3 ± 14.5 years, with 59.2% men. Propensity score matching resulted in two groups of 1950 patients each. Matched ACM adherent and non-ACM patients showed negligible differences in baseline characteristics. Hospitalization rates were lower in the ACM group both before matching (71.3 vs. 82.6 per 100 person-years, p < 0.001) and after matching (74.3 vs. 86.7 per 100 person-years, p < 0.001). During follow-up, 385 patients died, showing no significant survival benefit for ACM-guided care (hazard ratio = 0.93; p = 0.51). Conclusions: ACM-guided anemia management was associated with a significant reduction in hospitalization risk among hemodialysis patients. These results further support the utility of ACM as a decision-support tool enhancing anemia management in clinical practice.

La scelta del dialetto friulano da parte di Pasolini in Poesie a Casarsa (1942) si giustifica in primo luogo come presa di posizione contro l’usurata lingua della tradizione letteraria italiana in favore di una lingua marginale, «antichissima eppure del tutto vergine» (Pasolini, 1946, p. 14), trasfigurata in un personale idioletto poetico. Dal punto di vista strettamente dialettale, si tratta di una lingua libresca e artefatta, frutto di una «violenza linguistica» che «tendeva a fare del parlato casarsese insieme una koiné friulana e una specie di linguaggio assoluto, inesistente in natura» (Pasolini, 1954, p. 157). Solo dopo il lungo apprendistato dialettale a Casarsa negli anni della guerra l’autore giunge alla piena padronanza del genuino dialetto casarsese come dimostra il rifacimento linguistico delle poesie del 1942 confluito nella Meglio gioventù (1954). Muovendosi tra filologia d’autore e dialettologia, il presente contributo indaga la sensibilità linguistica di Pasolini analizzando i cambiamenti apportati al sistema fonetico, morfosintattico e lessicale delle prime poesie nella nuova versione della Meglio gioventù per sondare da vicino il passaggio dalla «lingua inventata» alla «lingua imparata» (Canciani, 1983, p. 97).

This paper looks at two different manifestations of workers’ poetry as a literary tradition: the poetry of workers, peasants and soldiers (gongnongbing 工农兵) and migrant workers’ poetry (dagong shige 打工诗歌) Through a comparison between three issues of Shikan 诗刊 (Poetry Monthly) from 1976 and an anthology of migrant worker’s poetry published in 2007, this study explores some of the most relevant differences between the two in terms of aesthetics and content, before addressing questions about the shifts in the positioning of workers’ poetry vis-à-vis the political and literary authority in China.

This review paper examines the current landscape of electricity market modelling, specifically focusing on stochastic approaches, transitioning from Mean Field Games (MFGs) to Neural Network (NN) modelling. The central objective is to scrutinize and synthesize evolving modelling strategies within power systems, facilitating technological advancements in the contemporary electricity market. This paper emphasizes the assessment of model efficacy, particularly in the context of MFG and NN applications. Our findings shed light on the diversity of models, offering practical insights into their strengths and limitations, thereby providing a valuable resource for researchers, policy makers, and industry practitioners. The review guides navigating and leveraging the latest stochastic modelling techniques for enhanced decision making and improved market operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Epilepsy surgery is a treatment option for patients with seizures that do not respond to pharmacotherapy. The histopathological characterization of the resected tissue has an important prognostic value to define postoperative seizure outcome in these patients. However, the diagnostic classification process based on microscopic assessment remains challenging, particularly in the case of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). Imaging mass spectrometry is a spatial omics technique that could improve tissue phenotyping and patient stratification by investigating hundreds of biomolecules within a single tissue sample, without the need for target‐specific reagents. Methods: An in situ proteomic technique called matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI‐MSI) is here investigated as a potential new tool to expand conventional diagnosis on standard paraffin brain tissue sections. Unsupervised and region of interest‐based MALDI‐MSI analyses of sections from 10 FCD type IIb (FCDIIb) cases were performed, and the results were validated by immunohistochemistry. Results: MALDI‐MSI identified distinct histopathological features and the boundaries of the dysplastic lesion. The capability to visualize the spatial distribution of well‐known diagnostic markers enabling multiplex measurements on single tissue sections was demonstrated. Finally, a fingerprint list of potential discriminant peptides that distinguish FCD core from peri‐FCD tissue was generated. Significance: This is the first study that explores the potential application of MALDI‐MSI in epilepsy postsurgery fixed tissue, by utilizing the well‐characterized FCDIIb features as a model. Extending these preliminary analyses to a larger cohort of patients will generate spectral libraries of molecular signatures that discriminate tissue features and will contribute to patient phenotyping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The management of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD-An) presents significant challenges for nephrologists due to variable responsiveness to erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs), hemoglobin (Hb) cycling, and multiple clinical factors affecting erythropoiesis. The Anemia Control Model (ACM) is a decision support system designed to personalize anemia treatment, which has shown improvements in achieving Hb targets, reducing ESA doses, and maintaining Hb stability. This study aimed to evaluate the association between ACM-guided anemia management with hospitalizations and survival in a large cohort of hemodialysis patients. Methods: This multi-center, retrospective cohort study evaluated adult hemodialysis patients within the European Fresenius Medical Care NephroCare network from 2014 to 2019. Patients treated according to ACM recommendations were compared to those from centers without ACM. Data on demographics, comorbidities, and dialysis treatment were used to compute a propensity score estimating the likelihood of receiving ACM-guided care. The primary endpoint was hospitalizations during follow-up; the secondary endpoint was survival. A 1:1 propensity score-matched design was used to minimize confounding bias. Results: A total of 20,209 eligible patients were considered (reference group: 17,101; ACM adherent group: 3108). Before matching, the mean age was 65.3 ± 14.5 years, with 59.2% men. Propensity score matching resulted in two groups of 1950 patients each. Matched ACM adherent and non-ACM patients showed negligible differences in baseline characteristics. Hospitalization rates were lower in the ACM group both before matching (71.3 vs. 82.6 per 100 person-years, p < 0.001) and after matching (74.3 vs. 86.7 per 100 person-years, p < 0.001). During follow-up, 385 patients died, showing no significant survival benefit for ACM-guided care (hazard ratio = 0.93; p = 0.51). Conclusions: ACM-guided anemia management was associated with a significant reduction in hospitalization risk among hemodialysis patients. These results further support the utility of ACM as a decision-support tool enhancing anemia management in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundUnilateral ligation of the pulmonary artery (UPAL) induces bilateral lung injury in pigs undergoing controlled mechanical ventilation. Possible mechanisms include redistribution of ventilation toward the non-ligated lung and hypoperfusion of the ligated lung. The addition of 5% CO2 to the inspiratory gas (FiCO2) prevents the injury, but it is not clear whether lung protection is a direct effect of CO2 inhalation or it is mediated by plasmatic hypercapnia. This study aims to compare the effects and mechanisms of FiCO2vs. hypercapnia induced by low tidal volume ventilation or instrumental dead space.MethodsHealthy pigs underwent left UPAL and were allocated for 48 h to the following: Volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) with VT 10 ml/kg (injury, n = 6); VCV plus 5% FiCO2 (FiCO2, n = 7); VCV with VT 6 ml/kg (low VT, n = 6); VCV plus additional circuit dead space (instrumental VD, n = 6). Histological score, regional compliance, wet-to-dry ratio, and inflammatory infiltrate were assessed to evaluate lung injury at the end of the study. To investigate the mechanisms of protection, we quantified the redistribution of ventilation to the non-ligated lung, as the ratio between the percentage of tidal volume to the right and to the left lung (VTRIGHT/LEFT), and the hypoperfusion of the ligated lung as the percentage of blood flow reaching the left lung (PerfusionLEFT).ResultsIn the left ligated lung, injury was prevented only in the FiCO2 group, as indicated by lower histological score, higher regional compliance, lower wet-to-dry ratio and lower density of inflammatory cells compared to other groups. For the right lung, the histological score was lower both in the FiCO2 and in the low VT groups, but the other measures of injury showed lower intensity only in the FiCO2 group. VTRIGHT/LEFT was lower and PerfusionLEFT was higher in the FiCO2 group compared to other groups.ConclusionIn a model of UPAL, inhaled CO2 but not hypercapnia grants bilateral lung protection. Mechanisms of protection include reduced overdistension of the non-ligated and increased perfusion of the ligated lung.

Objective: To investigate the Italian experience on the surgical and radiosurgical treatment of drug‐resistant epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) in the period 2011–2021 in six Italian epilepsy surgery centers, and to compare safety and efficacy profiles of the different techniques. Methods: We collected pseudo‐anonymized patient's data with at least 12 months of follow‐up. Surgical outcome was defined according to Engel classification of seizure outcome. Univariate analysis was performed to assess the risk of post‐operative seizures, categorized in dichotomous variable as favorable and unfavorable; explanatory variables were considered. Mann–Whitney or Chi‐squared test were used to assess the presence of an association between variables (p < 0.05). Results: Full presurgical and postoperative data about 42 patients from 6 epilepsy surgery centers were gathered. Engel class I was reached in the 65.8% and 66.6% of patients with gelastic and non‐gelastic seizures, respectively. Other than daily non‐gelastic seizures were associated with seizure freedom (p = 0.01), and the radiological type presented a trend toward significance (p = 0.12). Significance: Endoscopic disconnection and laser interstitial thermal therapy are effective in the treatment of HH‐related epilepsy, with a tolerable safety profile. Both gelastic and non‐gelastic seizures can be treated, also in patients with a long history of seizures. Plain Language Summary: This study collected data about 42 patients with HH‐related epilepsies. Endoscopic disconnection and laser therapy are both effective and safe in the treatment of hypothalamic hamartoma‐related epilepsies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) boundaries is crucial for effective focal epilepsy surgery. We verify the value of a neurophysiological biomarker of focal ictogenesis, characterized by a low‐voltage fast‐activity ictal pattern (chirp) recorded with intracerebral electrodes during invasive presurgical monitoring (stereoelectroencephalography [SEEG]). The frequency content of SEEG signals was retrospectively analyzed with semiautomatic software in 176 consecutive patients with focal epilepsies that either were cryptogenic or presented with discordant anatomoelectroclinical findings. Fast activity seizure patterns with the spectrographic features of chirps were confirmed by computer‐assisted analysis in 95.4% of patients who presented with heterogeneous etiologies and diverse lobar location of the EZ. Statistical analysis demonstrated (1) correlation between seizure outcome and concordance of sublobar regions included in the EZ defined by visual analysis and chirp‐generating regions, (2) high concordance in contact‐by contact analysis of 68 patients with Engel class Ia outcome, and (3) that discordance between chirp location and the visually outlined EZ correlated with worse seizure outcome. Seizure outcome analysis confirms the fast activity chirp pattern is a reproducible biomarker of the EZ in a heterogeneous group of patients undergoing SEEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malpighian tubules (MTs) are arthropod excretory organs crucial for the osmoregulation, detoxification and excretion of xenobiotics and metabolic wastes, which include tryptophan degradation products along the kynurenine (KYN) pathway. Specifically, the toxic intermediate 3-hydroxy kynurenine (3-HK) is metabolized through transamination to xanthurenic acid or in the synthesis of ommochrome pigments. Early investigations in Drosophila larval fat bodies revealed an intracellular autofluorescence (AF) that depended on tryptophan administration. Subsequent observations documented AF changes in the MTs of Drosophila eye-color mutants genetically affecting the conversion of tryptophan to KYN or 3-HK and the intracellular availability of zinc ions. In the present study, the AF properties of the MTs in the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, were characterized in different stages of the insect's life cycle, tryptophan-administered larvae and blood-fed adult females. Confocal imaging and microspectroscopy showed AF changes in the distribution of intracellular, brilliant granules and in the emission spectral shape and amplitude between the proximal and distal segments of MTs across the different samples. The findings suggest AF can serve as a promising marker for investigating the functional status of MTs in response to metabolic alterations, contributing to the use of MTs as a potential research model in biomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]