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Abstract Background Extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs, i.e., neonates born before 28 weeks of gestation) are at high risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), with potential long-life visual impairment. Due to concomitant anemia, ELGANs need repeated red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. These produce a progressive replacement of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) by adult hemoglobin (HbA). Furthermore, a close association exists between low levels of HbF and severe ROP, suggesting that a perturbation of the HbF-mediated oxygen release may derange retinal angiogenesis and promote ROP. Methods/design BORN (umBilical blOod to tRansfuse preterm Neonates) is a multicenter double-blinded randomized controlled trial in ELGANs, to assess the effect of allogeneic cord blood RBC transfusions (CB-RBCs) on severe ROP development. Recruitment, consent, and randomization take place at 10 neonatology intensive care units (NICUs) of 8 Italian tertiary hospitals. ELGANs with gestational age at birth comprised between 24+0 and 27+6 weeks are randomly allocated into two groups: (1) standard RBC transfusions (adult-RBCs) (control arm) and (2) CB-RBCs (intervention arm). In case of transfusion need, enrolled patients receive transfusions according to the allocation arm, unless an ABO/RhD CB-RBC is unavailable. Nine Italian public CB banks cooperate to make available a suitable amount of CB-RBC units for all participating NICUs. The primary outcome is the incidence of severe ROP (stage 3 or higher) at discharge or 40 weeks of postmenstrual age, which occurs first. Discussion BORN is a groundbreaking trial, pioneering a new transfusion approach dedicated to ELGANs at high risk for severe ROP. In previous non-randomized trials, this transfusion approach was proven feasible and able to prevent the HbF decrease in patients requiring multiple transfusions. Should the BORN trial confirm the efficacy of CB-RBCs in reducing ROP severity, this transfusion strategy would become the preferential blood product to be used in severely preterm neonates. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05100212. Registered on October 29, 2021

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of practicing different sports on ankle joint mobility (AJM) in young subjects. In 344 players of 5 different sports (soccer, classical ballet, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball), mean age 12.0 ± 2.4 years, sex (male/female: 237/107), BMI 19.0 ± 2.8 (Kg/m2), AJM was evaluated by using an inclinometer while the trunk flexibility was evaluated by the Sit and Reach test. Compared to all other groups, soccer players showed a significant reduction of AJM (p < .005) that is already present in younger subjects and that tends to worsen with aging (p < .04). On the contrary, the young dancers of classic ballet showed a significant increase in the AJM (p < .002). Basketball, volleyball and gymnastics groups showed a similar AJM. The higher AJM showed by females compared to males (128.5 ± 21.0° vs 144.6 ± 18.5°; p < .001) was not significant when the group of soccer players and dancers were excluded from the calculation. All groups investigated did not show a different mobility between the two ankles or the dominant and non-dominant limb. The age of the subjects investigated was not correlated with AJM. The group of gymnasts showed a significant increase in trunk flexibility (p < .001) compared to all other groups. Sport practice can significantly modify AJM both by increasing and reducing it. Such process should be timely assessed in order to prevent these alterations along with the related possible negative effects in the short and long term.

So far, in the application of legal analytics to legal sources, the substantive legal knowledge employed by computational models has had to be extracted manually from legal sources. This is the bottleneck, described in the literature. The paper is an exploration of this obstacle, with a focus on quantitative legal prediction. The authors review the most important studies about quantitative legal prediction published in recent years and systematize the issue by dividing them in text-based approaches, metadata-based approaches, and mixed approaches to prediction. Then, they focus on the main theoretical issues, such as the relationship between legal prediction and certainty of law, isomorphism, the interaction between textual sources, information, representation, and models. The metaphor of a crossroad shows a descriptive utility both for the aspects inside the bottleneck and, surprisingly, for the wider scenario. In order to have an impact on the legal profession, the test bench for legal quantitative prediction is the analysis of case law from the lower courts. Finally, the authors outline a possible development in the Artificial Intelligence (henceforth AI) applied to ordinary judicial activity, in general and especially in Italy, stressing the opportunity the huge amount of data accumulated before lower courts in the online trials offers.

Abstract Since the recruitment process, Italian Mafias impose on their members a strict code of conduct. These rigid rules regulate their private and public behavior, implying a total adhesion to the group’s values. Such juridical and social aspects substantially distinguish organized crime (OC) from ordinary crime. It is still unknown whether these two categories of offenders also show distinctive cognitive traits. Here we investigated the frontal lobe cognitive functions of 50 OC prisoners from the Mafia and 50 non-OC prisoners based on the performance of 50 non-prisoner controls. We found that OC members were more likely to show pathological risk-propensity than non-OC prisoners. We interpret this finding as the result of the internal dynamics of Mafia groups. OC is a worldwide threat, and the identification of cognitive traits behind criminal behavior will help in devising focused prevention policies.

Abstract The analysis of big data is a fundamental challenge for the current and future stream of data coming from many different sources. Geospatial data is one of the sources currently less investigated. A typical example of always increasing data set is that produced by the distribution data of invasive species on the concerned territories. The dataset of Drosophila suzuki invasion sites in Europe up to 2011 was used to test a possible method to pinpoint its outliers (anomalies). Our aim was to find a method of analysis that would be able to treat large amount of data in order to produce easily readable outputs to summarize and predict the status and, possibly, the future development of a biological invasion. To do that, we aimed to identify the so called anomalies of the dataset, identified with a Python script based on the machine learning algorithm “Isolation Forest”. We used also the K-Means clustering method to partition the dataset. In our test, based on a real dataset, the Silhouette method yielded a number of clusters of 10 as the best result. The clusters were drawn on the map with a Voronoi tessellation, showing that 8 clusters were centered on industrial harbours, while the last two were in the hinterland. This fact led us to guess that: (1) the main entrance mechanisms in Europe may be the wares import fluxes through ports, occurring apparently several times; (2) the spreading into the inland may be due to road transportation of wares; (3) the outliers (anomalies) found with the isolation forest method would identify individuals or populations that tend to detach from their original cluster and hence represent indications about the lines of further spreading of the invasion. This type of analysis aims hence to identify the future direction of an invasion, rather than the center of origin as in the case of geographic profiling. Isolation Forest provides therefore complimentary results with respect to PGP. The recent records of the invasive species, mainly localized close to the outliers position, are an indication that the isolation forest method can be considered predictive and proved to be a useful method to treat large datasets of geospatial data.

BackgroundSwimming is used for rehabilitation and conditioning purposes in equine sports medicine. We described the swimming kinematics of the equine forelimbs in Part 1. The aim of Part 2 is to assess stifle, tarsus, and hind fetlock joints kinematics in swimming horses. The objectives were 1- to calculate and compare joint angles during swimming against passive mobilizations (PM), 2- to determine joints angular velocities during a swimming stride cycle.MethodsEleven elite endurance horses were used to swim in a 100-meter straight pool. Underwater (swimming) and overground PM videos were recorded from the horses' left side. Joint markers were applied on the lateral hoof wall, lateral metatarsal epicondyle, lateral aspect of the talus, lateral femoral epicondyle, and great trochanter of the femur. As a reference, maximal fetlock, tarsus, and stifle flexion/extension angles were determined during PM overground. Differences between angle extrema, angular velocities, and range of motion (ROM) were statistically compared.ResultsThe tarsus ROM was similar during PM and swimming. The stifle and fetlock ROM were greater during PM, although the stifle flexion was greater during swimming. The stifle and tarsus had the greatest hindlimb angular velocity during the swimming cycle. Greater angular velocities were observed during the retraction phase for all the hindlimb joints.ConclusionA short retraction phase with great angular velocity for the joints of interest characterized the swimming pattern observed. Swimming may be beneficial in horses when an increased ROM of the tarsus and stifle or a reduced fetlock extension is indicated for rehabilitation purposes.

Background: Swimming is used for rehabilitation and conditioning purposes in equine sports medicine despite the lack of understanding of equine swimming kinematics. The aim of this study was to assess forelimb joints kinematics (elbow, carpus, and fetlock) in swimming horses. The specific objectives were 1- to calculate and compare joint angles in swimming vs. passive mobilizations (PM), 2- to determine joint angular velocities during a swimming stride cycle.Methods: Eleven elite endurance horses swam in a 100-m straight pool. Underwater (swimming) and overground (PM) videos were recorded from the horses' left side. Joint markers were applied on the lateral hoof wall, lateral metacarpal epicondyle, ulnar carpal bone, lateral humeral epicondyle, and the greater tubercle of humerus, from which elbow, carpus and fetlock angles, and angular velocities were obtained. As a reference, maximal fetlock, carpus, and elbow flexion/extension angles were determined during PM overground. Differences between angle extrema, angular velocities and range of motion (ROM) were compared.Results: Carpus and fetlock ROM were significantly smaller (p < 0.001) during swimming when compared with PM, while there was no difference in elbow ROM between both situations. The carpus had the greatest ROM of all joints during swimming. Absolute angular velocities values of all joints during swimming were greater during retraction than protraction (p < 0.001). When compared to other joints during protraction, the carpus joint reached the highest angular velocity.Conclusion: Swimming, as a rehabilitation exercise, has the potential to benefit horses where great elbow ROM with a moderate carpus and fetlock extension are wanted.

ABSTRACT The fast tracking of invasion spatial patterns of alien species is crucial for the implementation of preventive and management strategies of those species. Recently, a honeybee pest, the small hive beetle Aethina tumida (hereafter SHB), has been reported in Italy, where it colonized more than 50 apiaries in an area of about 300 km2. SHB is a nest parasite and scavenger of honeybee colonies native of Sub-Saharian Africa. Likely being helped by the globalization of apiculture, SHB underwent several invasions in the last twenty years, causing locally relevant economic impact. While many features of its biology have been addressed, an important knowledge gap concerns the spatial invasion dynamics in invaded areas. In this paper we coupled two spatial analysis techniques (geographic profiling and a density-based spatial clustering algorithm) to uncover the possible invasion pattern of SHB in Italy. We identified the port town of Gioia Tauro as the most likely point from which SHB may have spread and suggested the possible successive axes of diffusion. These putative diffusion paths suggest that the SHB spread in south Italy might have been due to a mix of natural dispersal between close apiaries and longer distance movement through faster, likely human-mediated, communication routes.