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Currently, ABS is produced by two different technologies: emulsion and continuous mass. Both technologies can produce materials with peculiar properties, but not always overlapping. The emulsion technology is more suited to produce high-performance materials for the injection molding sector. On the other hand, the continuous mass technology is more suited to produce high performance materials for the extrusion sector. In the ABS emulsion technology, polymerization is carried out starting from butadiene monomer while, in continuous mass, polymerization is carried out in presence of a preformed rubber. The ONE-STEP® technology has been developed by Versalis to fill the above-mentioned gap and to further rationalize the process scheme, by eliminating redundant steps in the production and supply of the rubber. Moreover, this technology allows to widen the range of product morphologies obtainable; in fact, by avoiding the finishing and packaging section, the ONE-STEP ® technology, fully overcomes the constraints linked to rubber production, expanding the available rubber molecular weight range that can be used in the synthesis of continuous-mass ABS. Versalis has designed and tested at pilot plant scale (kg/h of product) the above-mentioned new process scheme that integrates the two well proven and consolidated proprietary technologies for producing the rubber (anionic polymerization of butadiene) and mass ABS (radical polymerization of acrylonitrile-styrene). According to the new ONE-STEP® technology, the rubber solution from the anionic reaction is no longer steam stripped and finished in bales, but it is processed in a new non-conventional unitary operation, in which the solvent is exchanged with styrene, recovered and recycled. Moreover, due to important process simplifications, the ONE-STEP ® technology significantly reduces investment and operating costs, as well as the CO2 footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cranio‐lenticulo‐sutural dysplasia (CLSD; MIM 607812) is a rare or underdiagnosed condition, as only two families have been reported. The original family (Boyadjiev et al., Human Genetics, 2003, 113, 1–9 and Boyadjiev et al., Nature Genetics, 2006, 38, 1192–1197) showed recessive inheritance of the condition with a biallelic SEC23A missense variant in affected individuals. In contrast, another child with sporadic CLSD had a monoallelic SEC23A variant inherited from the reportedly unaffected father (Boyadjiev et al., Clinical Genetics, 2011, 80, 169–176), raising questions on possible digenism. Here, we report a 2‐month‐old boy seen because of large fontanels with wide cranial sutures, a large forehead, hypertelorism, a thin nose, a high arched palate, and micrognathia. His mother was clinically unremarkable, while his father had a history of large fontanels in infancy who had closed only around age 10 years; he also had a large forehead, hypertelorism, a thin, beaked nose and was operated for bilateral glaucoma with exfoliation of the lens capsule. Trio genome sequencing and familial segregation revealed a monoallelic c.1795G > A transition in SEC23A that was de novo in the father and transmitted to the proband. The variant predicts a nonconservative substitution (p.E599K) in an ultra‐conserved residue that is seen in 3D models of yeast SEC23 to be involved in direct binding between SEC23 and SAR1 subunits of the coat protein complex II coat. This observation confirms the link between SEC23A variants and CLSD but suggests that in addition to the recessive inheritance described in the original family, SEC23A variants may result in dominant inheritance of CLSD, possibly by a dominant‐negative disruptive effect on the SEC23 multimer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The prevalence of maternal group-B-streptococcus (GBS) colonization and risk factors (RFs) for neonatal early-onset disease (EOD) in Europe are poorly defined. Large-scale information concerning adherence to recommendations for preventing GBS-EOD are lacking.Materials and Methods: This was a 3-month retrospective area-based study including all regional deliveries  ≥35 weeks' gestation (in 2012). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, odds ratio and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) among full-term and preterm deliveries and prolonged membrane rupture (PROM) were calculated.Results: Among 7133 women, 259 (3.6%) were preterm (35-36 weeks' gestation). Full-term women were 6874, and 876 (12.7%) had at least 1 RF. Most women (6495) had prenatal screening and 21.4% (1390) were GBS positive. IAP was given to 2369 (33.2%) women (preterm, n = 166; full term, n = 2203). Compared to full-term, preterm women were less likely to receive IAP when indicated (73.2% versus 90.3%, p < 0.01). Full-term women represented the largest area under the curve (AUC, 0.87). PROM showed the highest sensitivity (98.6%), but the lowest specificity (6.9%) and AUC (0.53).Conclusions: Large-scale prenatal screening and IAP are feasible. Women delivering preterm are less likely to receive IAP when indicated. Most unnecessary antibiotics are given in cases of PROM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]