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Lower gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage is a complex clinical problem that requires disciplined evaluation for successful management. This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) in patients with acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding undergoing scintigraphy with 99mTc-labelled red blood cells (RBC), and to assess the additional clinical value of fused images when compared to the standard radionuclide scan.Twenty-seven patients presenting with acute lower GI tract hemorrhage were studied with conventional dynamic and planar 99mTc-RBC imaging. In 19 patients with positive findings on scans taken within 6 hours, a SPECT/CT study was immediately performed using a hybrid system composed of a dual-head, variable angle gamma camera and an X-ray tube. The number of patients in whom SPECT/CT changed the scintigraphic interpretation with regard to the presence or site of GI blood loss as confirmed by other diagnostic or therapeutical procedures was recorded.Image fusion was easy and successful in all patients showing perfect correspondence between SPECT and CT data and allowing precise anatomical localization of the sites of 99mTc-RBC extravasation. SPECT/CT had significant impact on the scintigraphic results in 7/19 patients (36.8%): in 6 patients it precisely localized the bleeding foci whose location could not be identified in standard scans and in one it excluded the presence of an active GI hemorrhage.SPECT/CT with a hybrid system is feasible and useful for facilitating imaging interpretation and improving the accuracy of 99mTc-RBC scintigraphy in patients with acute lower GI bleeding.

Aim The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of whole-body bone scintigraphy (WBS) and multi-field-of-view single photon emission tomography (multi-FOV SPECT) with 99mTc-oxidronate (99mTc-HDP) in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Methods In a prospective study, WBS and SPECT acquisitions were performed in194 patients with histologically confirmed PCa and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels above 10 ng/mL. Scans obtained using the two modalities were interpreted separately. Clinical and biochemical follow-up, radiological studies and biopsies served as benchmarks for the assessments. The impact of PSA level on WBS and SPECT results was also evaluated. Results The patient-based sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV values of SPECT examinations were higher than those of WBS, especially in patients with serum PSA levels ≶40 ng/mL. Conclusion Multi-FOV SPECT proved to be more sensitive and specific than WBS in detecting bone metastases in PCa patients.

Sensory Processing Disorders (SPDs) define dysfunctions in modulating, organising, and using information from several sensory channels for regulating motor, behavioural, emotional and attention responses. Although SPD can be identified also as an isolated condition in young children, its presence in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population is really frequent. The study purpose is to explore the SPD clinical expression and the putative correlation with several behavioural aspects both in children with ASD and in those with isolated SPD. Therefore, 43 preschool-aged children (25 ASD vs. 18 SPD) were recruited, and their parents completed three questionnaires (Developmental Profile-3, Sensory Processing Measure–Preschool, Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised) to evaluate behavioural alterations and developmental levels. The main result is that both ASD and SPD groups had significantly sensory-related behavioural symptoms, although ASD children seem to be more impaired in all areas. Several significant correlations were found between sensory processing difficulties and repetitive behaviours, but in the SPD group a specific relationship between Body Awareness and Ritualistic/Sameness Behaviour was found. Conversely, in the ASD group, more diffuse interlinks between sensory processing difficulties and motor behaviours were significant. In conclusion, the present study confirms the key role of sensory–motor skills in early diagnosis and intervention among children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Emerging evidence indicates that the etiologic agent responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can cause neurological complications. COVID-19 may induce cognitive impairment through multiple mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to describe the possible neuropsychological and metabolic neuroimaging consequences of COVID-19 12 months after patients’ hospital discharge. We retrospectively recruited 7 patients (age [mean ± SD] = 56 years ± 12.39, 4 men) who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 with persistent neuropsychological deficits 12 months after hospital discharge. All patients underwent cognitive assessment and brain (18F-FDG) PET/CT, and one also underwent 18F-amyloid PET/CT. Of the seven patients studied, four had normal glucose metabolism in the brain. Three patients showed various brain hypometabolism patterns: (1) unilateral left temporal mesial area hypometabolism; (2) pontine involvement; and (3) bilateral prefrontal area abnormalities with asymmetric parietal impairment. The patient who showed the most widespread glucose hypometabolism in the brain underwent an 18F-amyloid PET/CT to assess the presence of Aβ plaques. This examination showed significant Aβ deposition in the superior and middle frontal cortex, and in the posterior cingulate cortex extending mildly in the rostral and caudal anterior cingulate areas. Although some other reports have already suggested that brain hypometabolism may be associated with cognitive impairment at shorter intervals from SarsCov-2 infection, our study is the first to assess cognitive functions, brain metabolic activity and in a patient also amyloid PET one year after COVID-19, demonstrating that cerebral effects of COVID-19 can largely outlast the acute phase of the disease and even be followed by amyloid deposition.

Sensory processing abilities play important roles in child learning, behavioural and emotional regulation, and motor development. Moreover, it was widely demonstrated that numerous children with neurodevelopmental disabilities show differences in sensory processing abilities and self-regulation compared with those of typical children. For these reasons, a complete evaluation of early symptoms is very important, and specific tools are necessary to better understand and recognize these difficulties during childhood. The main aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and validate in a population of Italian typically developing (TD) children the Sensory Processing and Self-Regulation Checklist (SPSRC), a 130-item caregiver-reported checklist, covering children’s sensory processing and self-regulation performance in daily life. Preliminary testing of the SPSRC-IT was carried out in a sample of 312 TD children and 30 children with various developmental disabilities. The findings showed that the SPSRC-IT had high internal consistency, a good discriminant, and structural and criterion validity about the sensory processing and self-regulation abilities of children with and without disabilities. These data provide initial evidence on the reliability and validity of SPSRC-IT, and the information obtained by using the SPSRC-IT may be considered a starting point to widen the current understanding of sensory processing difficulties among children.

Caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders play a central role during the rehabilitation and education processes, but they have an increasing risk of psychosocial problems even if the literature is not so agreed upon the specific and predisposing factors to that. The aim of this study was to examine possibly differences of burden levels in an Italian sample of principal caregivers of children with different kinds of neurodevelopmental disorders and to investigate the possible links between some clinical and sociodemographic variables and the levels of caregiver’s burden. 105 caregivers of school-aged children with neurodevelopmental disorders were included in the study and completed three online questionnaires (General Questionnaire, Caregiver Burden Inventory, Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale). Results highlighted that about the half of caregivers show from moderate to high levels of stress, but parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability show greater difficulties than parents of children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Language and/or Learning Disorder, and Developmental Coordination Disorder. Moreover, it was evident a negative correlation between the burden levels and the age of children, but also a direct correlation between the burden levels and the weekly hours of rehabilitation. These findings show that severity of caregiver’s burden is dependent by the type of neurodevelopmental disorder and suggest that an ecological and family-centred approach is necessary to guarantee the life health developmental course of these children.

Energy consumption of the EU has a crucial environmental impact; several efforts are nowadays thus directed into massively reducing energy consumption by envelope improvement, system efficiency and smart control. On the other hand, the indoor thermal and lighting conditions significantly influence users' wellbeing and productivity, which is especially important when dealing with educational and working facilities. Strategies to enhance system efficiency are focused on design and construction aspects. These strategies ease to promote a powerful approach which is needed when focusing on existing buildings in need of retrofit measures. When dealing with new or refurbished buildings, energy saving has a further step to achieve. In the last years, research trends moved towards an increasing inclusion of human factors in energy evaluation. This allows to account for the occupancy variability in the energy analyses, considering how to bridge the performance gap between predictive models and actual consumptions due to indoor thermal settings. In empty buildings energy consumption is huge and economic efforts are wasted, due to unconscious energy-wasting behaviors. Previous studies with Interactive Virtual Environments confirmed that indoor environments illuminated by different color lights lead to the perception of different levels of thermal comfort. The results of the present paper replicate previous evidence collected in real conditions, suggesting that Virtual Reality is a valid and reliable tool to assess thermal comfort more quickly and cheaply. This paper provides a further perspective on this topic, including also the use of different fragrances to understand how the indoor environment could be enhanced and manipulated to increase wellbeing, thermal perception and finally energy saving.

Due to its complexity and high variability in symptomology, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requires a coordinated and multidisciplinary intervention to better support the different programs over time and to promote social interactions in all contexts of life. Telemedicine can offer a valuable contribution in this regard, providing low-cost and portable applications. In this paper, we presented an Italian project, SUPER, which aimed to foster collaboration and information sharing between ASD families, health services, and schools. SUPER provided a digital platform with several tools that were useful both to enhance general and specific ASD knowledge and to promote personalized programs for children with ASD. We conducted a preliminary user test for the platform with 30 participants (18 therapists and 12 parents of children with ASD) using the system usability scale (SUS). The total mean SUS score (89.2) showed that SUPER is an excellent, usable system. Moreover, we extracted the usability and learnability mean components from the SUS scores, which were 96.1 and 61.7, respectively. Our preliminary results indicate that SUPER is a very user-friendly application and its innovative telemedicine approach could be ahelpful communication and collaboration tool among the different contexts of care for children with ASD.