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Introduction: Personality disorder sufferers with severe self-harm and experience long psychiatric hospitalizations have complex mental health conditions and are at risk of suicide. When the symptoms of emotional instability are combined with self-harm, the resulting crisis often becomes difficult for patients and caregivers to manage. To improve care during these crises, the Dutch Multidisciplinary Guideline for Personality Disorders designates “brief admission” (BA) hospitalizations as an ameliorative intervention. Objective: To describe the effectiveness of short hospitalization nursing care for people with borderline personality disorder and who practice self-harm, compared to ordinary hospitalization. Methods: A narrative review was conducted through the Embase and CINAHL databases, the selected articles had to answer the following research questions: “what are the observable benefits of short-term hospitalization on patients with borderline personality disorder?”; and “what are the benefits compared to short hospitalization operators?”. Results: Seven studies were selected. The results show that BA was perceived as an effective nursing intervention, which promoted the patient’s self-determination and self-care. This helped increase confidence in daily life and allowed people to maintain their daily routines, work, and relationships by decreasing long hospitalizations and increasing patient compliance. There has also been benefit from the staff, who report an improvement in work quality. Conclusions: This type of hospitalization has developed in Northern European states. BA has never been tested in the Italian healthcare sector. It would be appropriate and desirable, given the results obtained, to experiment with this procedure also in Italy to obtain specific feedback regarding the relationship of short-term hospitalization with our National Health Service. It is hoped that this research can be a stimulus in this sense.

There are only two Aphaenogaster species from the subterranea group in the western Mediterranean: A. ichnusa Santschi, 1925, from south-western Europe, and A. subterranea (Latreille, 1798), also occurring in central and eastern Europe. Historically, the two species have been widely misunderstood: A. ichnusa was long considered a Sardinian endemic subspecies of A. subterranea, while its continental populations were misidentified as A. subterranea s. str. Recently, A. ichnusa was elevated to species rank and its worker caste was redescribed with that of A. subterranea, allowing for their correct identification. Yet their distribution was documented in detail only for France and Sardinia. Furthermore, no morphological characters were described to distinguish the males and queens of the two species. By investigating private and museum collections, 276 new records of A. ichnusa are provided here and 154 of A. subterranea from the western Mediterranean. Additionally, qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were combined to identify their males and queens. We present the new southernmost, easternmost, and westernmost distribution limits for A. ichnusa. Based on our results, this species is widely distributed in Italy and Catalonia (Spain), also occurring on several Mediterranean islands, avoiding areas with continental climate and high altitudes. Sicily is the only island to host the less thermophilous A. subterranea, which otherwise extends westward to Galicia (Spain). Sympatric occurrence is not rare along the contact zone. Additional natural history observations are reported regarding foraging habits, associated myrmecophiles, habitat preferences, and colony structure in the two species.

The ant genus Myrmecina, whose diversity is mostly concentrated in SE-Asia and Oceania, counts four W-Palearctic species. The extremely euryecious and well-studied Myrmecina graminicola occurs from Iberia to the Caucasus and from the Maghreb to Scandinavia, while three little-known species (M. atlantis, M. melonii and M. sicula) coexist with M. graminicola in their narrow Maghrebian, Sardinian and Sicilian ranges, respectively. Myrmecina sicula has been described about 140 years ago from a single site and two specimens only. Their unique morphology suggested the validity of this taxon ever since, but no additional specimens were found in the following century. We present the results of decades of sampling efforts across Sicily, resulting in the collection of M. graminicola from 70 sites and M. sicula from 13 sites. We confirm M. sicula unique morphological identity and report on the marked distributional and ecological differences between the two species. Myrmecina graminicola is widespread and inhabits diverse, mainly forested habitats from lowland to high mountain sites, while M. sicula was found in a very narrow region of old carbonate platform between NW-Sicily and the Egadi Islands, mostly in sparsely vegetated sites at mid to low-altitude. Reviewing their common morphological and biogeographic traits, we propose to consider M. atlantis, M. melonii and M. sicula as a distinct M. sicula complex, whose identity and history deserves further investigation through molecular analyses.

The aim of our study was to investigate the clinical features of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) with autofluorescence (AF), retromode (RM), and enface imaging. This retrospective study was conducted at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome (Italy), between September and December 2022. Each patient underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, which included optical coherence tomography (OCT), enface image analysis, AF, and RM imaging. We further evaluated the presence and area of extension of serous retinal detachment and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophy through AF, RM, and enface imaging. We included 32 eyes from 27 patients (mean age: 52.7 ± 13.3 years). The median AF area was 19.5 mm2 (IQR 6.1–29.3), while the median RM area was 12.3 mm2 (IQR 8.1–30.8), and the median enface area was 9.3 mm2 (IQR 4.8–18.6). RPE atrophy was diagnosed in 26 cases (81.3%) with RM imaging and in 75% of cases with AF. No difference emerged between AF and RM analysis in the detection of central serous detachment in CSC. However, RM imaging showed a high specificity (91.7%) and negative predictive value (84.6%) to detect RPE changes when compared to the AF standard-of-care technique. Thus, RM imaging could be considered an adjunctive imaging method in CSC.

The ant genus Acropyga Roger, 1862 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and its associated myrmecophilous scale insect genus Eumyrmococcus Silvestri, 1926 (Hemiptera: Xenococcidae) are reported from Italy for the first time. These records are based on some alates of Acropyga paleartica Menozzi, 1936 with females of Eumyrmococcus corinthiacus Williams, 1993 carried in their mandibles, collected in Salento area (Apulia region, South Eastern Italy) in 2020.

Hypoponera abeillei is the sole member of the otherwise exclusively Afrotropical abeillei group to occur in the West-Palearctic and since its first description on the basis of two Corsican workers in 1881, it remained little-known. Workers of this species are thought to entirely lack eyes, a rare trait among ants of the region, yet their lifestyle remains undocumented. On the other hand, the male caste has been described from 4 Tunisian specimens in 1921, and queens remained so far undescribed. We present an updated description of the male caste based on 45 specimens and a first description of the queen caste based on 14 specimens. The H. abeillei material we examined comes from Italy, Spain and Malta (mostly originating from coastal localities), and comprises 11 inedit distribution records, including the first findings in the islands of Mallorca, Malta and Sardinia. Moreover, we provide a first phenological overview of the species’ nuptial flights. Our data show that H. abeillei sexuals flight during the summer, mostly in August, and demonstrate that they can easily be distinguished from all the other Hypoponera species inhabiting the Mediterranean region based on their morphology. The remarkable diversity of Mediterranean Hypoponera males and queens suggest that sexuals may have a role in future attempts to understand relationships within this genus, yet the number of species in which sexual castes are documented is still extremely reduced.

Introduction and purposeChoroidal metastases (CM) are the most common intraocular malignancies. With longer survival rates for cancer patients, CM will be increasingly encountered. We evaluated clinical and ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of CM in order to identify diagnostic biomarkers that correlate with the primary tumor site.MethodsThe medical records of all patients with CM evaluated at the Ocular Oncology Unit between February 2010 and March 2020 were analyzed.Results82 eyes of 70 patients were included. The primary cancer site was lung in 26 patients (37%), breast in 23 (33%), kidney in 9 (13%), gastrointestinal in 5 (7%), thyroid in 5 (7%), parathyroids and prostate respectively in 2 (3%). Fifty-five patients (78%) had other systemic metastases at the time of ocular diagnosis. Ten (14%) patients had no history of primary cancer. Bilateral CM were found in 20 patients (29%); fifty-six eyes (68%) had a single CM. The epicenter of CM was predominantly macula (43 eyes, 52%). The mean thickness was 4,1 mm (range 1,8-12,3). US structure was inhomogeneous in 67 eyes (82%). Reflectivity was mainly medium (39%) and medium-low (39%). In particular, CM from lung cancer showed lower reflectivity than those from the breast (p = 0,02). CM deriving from lung cancer were typically dome-shaped, whereas CM originating from breast were characteristically plateau shaped (p = 0,02). Seventy-four (91%) eyes presented fluid on optical coherence tomography.ConclusionWe significatively found that CM from lung cancer generally appear dome-shaped with medium-low internal reflectivity, whereas those from breast cancer typically present a plateau appearance and higher internal reflectivity. Though it is hard to identify the site of the primary tumor relying exclusively on clinical and US aspects, morphology and internal reflectivity can be considered as diagnostic biomarkers. Thus, the origin of the primary tumor can be suspected by integrating a constellation of findings.

Purpose: To report the case of a 13-year-old girl with torpedo maculopathy, evaluated with multimodal morpho-functional retinal imaging, including fundus photography, infra-red and blue fundus autofluorescence, swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT), en face OCT, OCT angiography and microperimetry (MP). Observations: On fundus examination, a torpedo-like hypopigmented lesion was observed temporal to the fovea in the left eye. OCT showed disruption of outer retinal layers and the presence of a subretinal cleft. On OCTA, a diffuse attenuation of signal from choriocapillaris was observed along the lesion. Functional analysis with MP revealed a reduction of retinal sensitivity over the lesion. Conclusions: and importance: On OCTA, torpedo maculopathy is characterized by vascular alterations of the choriocapillaris along the lesion. Keywords: Optical coherence tomography angiography, Torpedo maculopathy, Microperimetry, Swept-source optical coherence tomography, En face optical coherence tomography

The Canary Islands are a biologically important archipelago hosting many unique species, whose myrmecofauna is peculiarly rich in both endemic and introduced species. Lepisiota frauenfeldi cfr. kantarensis Forel, 1911 is reported for the first time from Fuerteventura and Tenerife. It is the second species of Lepisiota introduced in the archipelago in the last few years, and one of the few documented cases in which Lepisiota frauenfeldi (Mayr, 1855) s.l. acts as a successful tramp species. Comments are also given on taxonomic problems involving the L. frauenfeldi-group and related taxa. Finally, new additional information and comments are presented on the distribution of other alien ants species from the Canary Islands [Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma & Andrásfalvy, 1990, Lepisiota capensis (Mayr, 1862) and Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802)].

Purpose : To develop a predictive model and nomogram for maculopathy occurrence at 3 years after 106 Ru/ 106 Rh plaque brachytherapy in uveal melanoma. Material and methods : Clinical records of patients affected by choroidal melanoma and treated with 106 Ru/ 106 Rh plaque from December 2006 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were: dome-shaped melanoma, distance to the fovea > 1.5 mm, tumor thickness > 2 mm, and follow-up > 4 months. The delivered dose to the tumor apex was 100 Gy. Primary endpoint of this investigation was the occurrence of radiation maculopathy at 3 years. Analyzed factors were as follows: gender, age, diabetes, tumor size (volume, area, largest basal diameter and apical height), type of plaque, distance to the fovea, presence of exudative detachment, drusen, orange pigment, radiation dose to the fovea and sclera. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to define the impact of baseline patient factors on the occurrence of maculopathy. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate freedom from the occurrence of the maculopathy. The model performance was evaluated through internal validation using area under the ROC curve (AUC), and calibration with Gronnesby and Borgan tests. Results : One hundred ninety-seven patients were considered for the final analysis. Radiation-related maculopathy at 3 years was observed in 41 patients. The proposed nomogram can predict maculopathy at 3 years with an AUC of 0.75. Distance to fovea appeared to be the main prognostic factor of the predictive model (hazard ratio of 0.83 [0.76-0.90], p < 0.01). Diabetes (hazard radio of 2.92 [1.38-6.20], p < 0.01), and tumor volume (hazard radio of 21.6 [1.66-281.14], p = 0.02) were significantly predictive for maculopathy occurrence. The calibration showed no statistical difference between actual and predicted maculopathy (p = 1). Conclusions : Our predictive model, together with its nomogram, could be a useful tool to predict the occurrence of radiation maculopathy at 3 years after the treatment.

Social innovation is an emerging theme within innovation theory, and so is the concept of public service innovation networks for social innovation (PSINSIs). The purpose of this article is to explore how social innovation in Danish public services is conceptualised and enacted through the lenses of public service innovation networks for social innovation. To do this, a thorough integrative review of the literature dealing with the Danish context is conducted. The Danish context is interesting in order to investigate these network arrangements, firstly because they are not well understood in the context of the Nordic welfare states, which Denmark is part of, and then because municipalities and civil society have historically had a mutually dependent relationship in Denmark. The article highlights that social innovation is framed in several ways in the Danish public sector. In particular, the results show that the literature can be grouped according to four themes: (1) samskabelse (co-creation), (2) collaboration with civil society, (3) social entrepreneurs and social innovation and (4) public–private innovation partnerships. Moreover, the article presents and discusses a number of Danish empirical projects that may be understood through the lens of the PSINSI framework. Hence, the paper contributes with new theoretical perspectives, in addition to contributing to practice.