WHAT ITALIAN CHILDREN USUALLY EAT: HOW TO HARM OURSELVES AND THE ENVIRONMENT Cosa mangiano i nostri bambini: come far male a se stessi e anche all’ambiente

Background. The growth of the human population and expanding consumption patterns are among the primary causes of climate change and its health effects. The food system significantly contributes to the climate change, as it is responsible for 26% of CO2emissions, uses 50% of habitable land and 70% of water resources and causes biodiversity loss. Animal-based and processed foods have a greater environmental impact and the widespread adoption of a western diet is unsustainable for both the planet and human health. Materials and methods. This study examined the dietary habits of a paediatric sample (aged: 6 months-14 years) to assess adherence to guidelines by focusing on the consumption of high-impact foods. It also analysed whether school canteens promote a sustainable and healthy diet and assessed parents’ awareness of these issues and the role of paediatricians in disseminating this information, as well. Results. The results showed an excessive consumption of meat (68%) and dairy products (49%), making the diet unsustainable for both human and planetary health. The school system, while promoting overall healthy eating, increases the consumption of high-impact foods already excessively consumed at home. There is a lack of parental awareness about what a healthy diet and its environmental impact are, topics that are also under-addressed by paediatricians. The paper highlights the need for a better training for paediatricians to promote healthy and sustainable diets

Investigating Transparency in Corporate Discourse about Safety

Transparent communication is key to corporate reputation. Although greater public awareness has obliged firms to take a more proactive approach to transparent communication and disclosure, transparency remains an elusive concept and difficult to verify. This paper explores the characteristics of language which can act as indicators of transparency and focuses on the information about safety at sea provided by cruise and ferry operators in the relevant sections of the companies’ websites and their corporate reports. Following Schnackenberg and Tomlinson’s (2016) classification of the three dimensions of transparency, namely Disclosure, Clarity and Accuracy, the analysis adopts an eclectic, primarily qualitative approach to identify the linguistic and rhetorical features that contribute to or hinder transparency. The study takes into consideration the cognitive strategies adopted in the transfer of specialised and technical knowledge from expert to non-expert, which may give insight into the way information is rendered understandable and hence more transparent from the point of view of clarity. Another line of analysis is the use of vagueness, which could appear to move the discourse in the opposite direction, towards ambiguity, or even opaqueness. Whilst various rhetorical devices, such as cognitive strategies and FAQs, are found to enhance transparency, vagueness and highly evaluative language, typical of corporate communication, may impair it. The overall results of the analysis suggest that it is easier to identify the characteristics of the lack, rather than the presence, of transparency

Secondary Transfer Effect and Natives' Acculturation Behaviours: The Role of Natives' Perceived Moral Distance and Multicultural Ideology

The increase in migration and cultural diversity across various Western regions has highlighted the need to promote harmonious coexistence between those who migrate from other countries and the native populations. Promoting social harmony is the primary objective in both acculturation and intergroup contact research. Particularly relevant to this aim is the secondary transfer effect (STE), consisting in the spreading of the effects of contact with a primary outgroup to attitudes towards secondary outgroups uninvolved in the contact setting. This study aims to explore the STE of positive contact with African migrants (as the primary outgroup) on the acculturation behaviours of natives, and specifically, how these behaviours affect natives' prointegration actions towards refugees (as the secondary outgroup). To achieve this objective, we also investigated two potential underlying processes: natives' perceived moral distance, linked to the STE and contact literature, and natives' multicultural ideology, associated with natives' acculturation preferences. We hypothesised that positive interactions of Italian adults (N = 280) with African migrants would be associated with natives' prorefugee behaviours through natives' perceived moral distance towards African migrants and their multicultural ideology. Logistic SEM analysis revealed indirect effects through the two hypothesised mediators, emphasising their role in driving natives' prorefugee behaviours

Persistent Postictal Central Apnea in Focal Seizures: Incidence, Features, and Imaging Findings

Background and ObjectivesPostconvulsive central apnea has emerged as a contributor to sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of postictal central apnea (PICA) in focal seizures. The secondary aim was to analyze morphometric features of the amygdala and other subcortical structures involved in autonomic control.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled consecutive patients admitted to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Modena Academic Hospital (Italy) from April 2020 to December 2023. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) age older than 13 years; (2) at least 1 focal-onset seizure recorded during long-term video-EEG monitoring (LTVEM) with cardiorespiratory polygraphy. For each seizure, the presence of ictal central apnea (ICA) and/or PICA and its features were evaluated. Amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, brainstem, and cerebellum volumetry were compared in patients with ICA/PICA with respect to healthy controls and patients with focal seizures without peri-ictal breathing disorders.ResultsA total of 69 patients (mean age 35.7 years; 42% female) with 406 focal-onset seizures were analyzed. ICA was recorded in 71 seizures (17%) in 27 patients. PICA was recorded in 24 seizures in 12 patients (10 with temporal lobe epilepsy) corresponding to 5.9% of all recorded seizures. Notably, PICA was observed only in seizures showing ictal apnea (in 33.8%). In 11 seizures with PICA, a single apneic event starting in the ictal and extending to the postictal period was observed. In 13 seizures, multiple apneic events were present in the postictal period (range 2-8). Seizures with PICA showed a longer peri-ictal apnea time (mean 75 seconds vs 40 seconds; p = 0.007) and a longer time to restore a regular rhythmic breathing after seizure termination (mean 173 seconds vs 42 seconds; p < 0.001) than seizures with self-limiting ictal apnea. Amygdala volumes ipsilateral to the epileptogenic zone were larger in patients with ICA/PICA compared with controls and patients without seizure-related apnea.DiscussionPICA occurs in approximately 6% of focal seizures and is associated with extended apnea time and an enlarged amygdala ipsilaterally to the epileptogenic zone. Our data support the existence of a continuum from ictal to PICA and highlight the importance of cardiorespiratory recordings in LTVEM

Cam deformity of the hip and personal identification of unidentified remains: two case reports of forensic anthropological interest

Cam-type deformity of the hip is a morphological change at the femoral head–neck junction, caused by abnormal contact with the acetabulum during hip flexion. It can result from both pathological conditions and repetitive physical stress. Case presentation study examines skeletal remains of two individuals, Subjects A and B, both showing signs of cam-type deformity. Subject A exhibited osteogenesis imperfecta of the sternum, degenerative arthritis in the thoracic vertebrae and patellae, and partial fusion of adjacent vertebral bodies with hyperostosis. These findings suggest diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), which likely caused altered gait mechanics and uneven weight distribution, contributing to the deformity. Subject B showed bilateral Achilles enthesopathy and early patellar hyperostosis, indicating a history of intense physical activity. The cam-type deformity in this case was attributed to overuse syndrome. Cam-type deformities can arise from distinct causes, including systemic pathology and mechanical overuse. Recognizing such skeletal changes can offer valuable insights into an individual’s health and activity history, supporting efforts in forensic identification

Thermal degradation pathways in multi-component epoxy composites

In this study, the thermal degradation behavior of epoxy composites formulates with a bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol F (BPF) resin blend, a reactive alkyl glycidyl ether diluent, and quartz filler, cured with a cycloaliphatic amine hardener was investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) were employed to explore the degradation pathways and identify the key pyrolyzates. The results revealed that BPA and BPF degrade through distinct but interrelated mechanisms, producing major pyrolyzates such as phenol, BPA, and xanthene. The reactive diluent significantly influenced the pyrolysis profile by introducing unique long-chain hydrocarbons, alcohols, and ethers because of its incomplete incorporation into the polymer matrix. Despite its inert nature, the quartz filler reduced the abundance of pyrolyzates and increased the residual mass, improving the thermal stability of the composite without altering the degradation pathways. This study highlights the complex interplay between resin chemistry, reactive diluents, and fillers in determining thermal behavior. These insights are essential for optimising epoxy composite formulations to enhance their thermal stability and durability for high-performance applications

PRISMA: A Privacy-Preserving Schema Matcher using Functional Dependencies

Schema matching aims to find semantic correspondences between the columns of two schemas. Due to its high relevance in the field of data integration, it has been extensively studied in the literature. However, most matching approaches assume similarity of column names or instance data of the schemas to be matched and struggle when these are encoded differently, e.g., if they have been encrypted due to privacy requirements. We present Prisma, a novel encoding-independent schema matcher that utilizes functional dependencies to construct graph embeddings that exploit the encoding-independent structure of the schemas to be compared. We compare Prisma against multiple baseline matchers as well as state-of-the-art competitors. The experiments demonstrate that Prisma outperforms these approaches on databases that have large differences in their encodings, especially if these databases consist of multiple tables

Current perspectives on living donor selection in liver transplantation

The careful selection of donors is crucial to achieving a successful outcome in living donor liver transplantation. The evaluation process involves obtaining a comprehensive medical history and pertinent laboratory testing, evaluating surgical anatomy using cross-sectional radiologic imaging and understanding donor motivation and psycho social considerations. This review outlines the evaluation of a potential living liver donor and discussed frequently encountered special considerations that may need to be addressed by the transplant team