Early Permian post-collisional magmatism induced by extensive removal of the Variscan lithospheric mantle

The tectonic re-equilibration after the Variscan orogeny coincided with widespread early Permian post-collisional magmatism in southern Europe. A full understanding of the origin of this magmatism in the South Variscan realm and its relationship to major tectonic events such as subduction, continental collision, rifting or lithospheric foundering hinges on high-precision geochronological data of the magmatic products. Here, we present new high-precision zircon U-Pb geochronological data obtained by chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) for the early Permian Athesian Magmatic District (AMD) in NE Italy. Our analysed zircons from felsic intrusive and volcanic rocks give ages spanning from ca. 281.8 to 277.2 Ma, suggesting that the lifetime of the AMD was significantly shorter than previously reported. Our data, when combined with recent high-precision ages from other South Variscan magmatic systems suggest that the Cisuralian (early Permian) post-collisional magmatism in the Southalpine domain occurred over more than 8 m.y. with the magmatic centres migrating from the western to the eastern Southern Alps. Geochemical and radiogenic isotope modelling of published data for magmatic rocks in the Southern Alps and the Corsica-Sardinia batholith suggest a subduction-enriched mantle source for the South Variscan post-collisional magmatism, with melting occurring under a relatively thin lithosphere at depths of ca. 60 km. Our results point to a significant post-orogenic delamination of the thick lithospheric mantle formed during the Variscan orogeny. In this scenario, the migration of the post-collisional magmatism within the Cisuralian district may be due to the lateral migration of the lithospheric foundering

Emotional pictures in the brain and their interaction with the task: A fine-grained fMRI coordinate-based meta-analysis study

The impacting research on emotions of the last decades was carried out with different methods. The most popular was based on the use of a validated sample of slides, the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS), divided mainly into pleasant, neutral and unpleasant categories, and on fMRI as a measure of brain activation induced by these stimuli. With the present coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) based on ALE approach, we aimed to unmask the main brain networks involved in the contrast of pleasant vs. neutral and unpleasant vs. neutral IAPS slide categories. Furthermore, we included studies employing both IAPS and non-IAPS (but analogously validated) pictures, a condition termed as IAPS EXTENDED. After selecting 97 papers published in the 2000-2023 interval, the planned contrasts were analyzed by also considering their interaction with the Load factor of the concomitant task, which comprised the conditions: No Load (passive viewing), Low-Load tasks and High-Load tasks. We analyzed a total of 152 experiments (106 focusing on the negative vs. neutral contrast; 46 reporting positive vs. neutral contrasts). We additionally performed conjunction and contrast analyses. Results confirmed outcomes of past meta-analyses on the involvement of a number of cortical and subcortical paralimbic and limbic regions during unpleasant picture processing, but the increase of the pubblications on this topic in last years, together with a more fine-grained analysis, allowed us to find also the involvement of additional areas, such as the right middle frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 9), posterior cingulate, and left inferior parietal lobule. Concerning passive viewing and low-load tasks, a clear frontal asymmetry emerged with greater right prefrontal activation (BA9) to unpleasant vs. pleasant pictures, whereas, during No Load tasks only, left frontal dominance to pleasant vs. unpleasant stimuli was found (BA13). The unpleasant vs. neutral comparison on High-Load tasks (the pleasant condition had an insufficient sample size) revealed a specific lateralization of several areas of the right hemisphere (STG-BA 38, MFG-BA 46, FG-BA 37), whereas, in the other load conditions, the inferior frontal gyrus was right lateralized, but the main activated regions were bilateral or left lateralized. Results are discussed considering the effects of both valence and task/load variables, and the involvement of hippocampus/amygdala, hemispheric asymmetries of emotions, the occipito-temporal areas, several sub-regions of the prefrontal/orbitofrontal cortex, and an extended motor network

The dilemma of X-linked agammaglobulinemia carriers

Background: Many patients with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) nowadays have reached adulthood, as well as their sisters, possibly carriers of a deleterious Bruton tyrosine kinase variant. Studies on motherhood outcomes in families with XLA are lacking. Objective: We sought to investigate adherence to carrier status screening, interest in preconception and prenatal genetic counseling, and reproductive decisions in relatives with XLA. Methods: In this multicenter, retrospective cohort study, we collected a 3-generation pedigree and data on mothers and sisters of patients with XLA, including carrier status and pregnancy outcome. Results: Data on 53 adults with XLA, 52 mothers, and 33 sisters were collected. All XLA sisters received genetic counseling. Forty percent of the sisters chose to undergo carrier status determination, and 60% of them chose invasive prenatal testing. The main reasons for the sisters to decide not to undergo genetic testing were their young age and the willingness to carry on with the pregnancy regardless of the outcome of the genetic test, followed by the willingness to postpone the decision at the time of pregnancy and the decision to not have children. Prenatal testing resulted in 5 XLA diagnoses, with 2 pregnancy terminations, 1 miscarriage, and 2 XLA live births. Three carriers refused prenatal testing and had 6 live births, including 3 XLA-affected sons. One sister was diagnosed as a carrier after the birth of an XLA-affected son. In total, 9 XLA diagnoses were made, including 6 live births. Conclusions: A number of XLA sister carriers decided to carry on with their pregnancy after receiving the diagnosis of an affected fetus or after refusing prenatal testing. We propose to initiate a more extensive collaborative study to verify the effect of genetic counseling on families with XLA in other cohorts from different countries

Teacher personality and the perceived socioeconomic gap in student outcomes

We randomly assign student profiles to teachers and elicit teachers’ beliefs about the student’s likelihood of success in alternative high school tracks. We document a large and statistically significant gradient in teachers’ beliefs about students’ high school prospects with respect to students’ socioeconomic background (SEB), ceteris paribus. We find that this gradient varies with teacher’s personality, a hard-to-observe and understudied teacher trait. Specifically, higher levels of teacher’s extraversion and openness are associated with a steeper negative SEB gradient in teachers’ beliefs about students’ success prospects in an academic track. Conversely, more conscientious and agreeable teachers assign to low-SEB students, on average, a higher probability of success in a vocational track. We discuss some policy implications of our findings

Stability of quasi-entropy solutions of non-local scalar conservation laws

We prove the stability of entropy solutions of nonlinear conservation laws with respect to perturbations of the initial datum, the space-time dependent flux and the entropy inequalities. Such a general stability theorem is motivated by the study of problems in which the flux P[u](t, x, u) depends possibly non-locally on the solution itself. For these problems we show the conditional existence and uniqueness of entropy solutions. Moreover, the relaxation of the entropy inequality allows to treat approximate solutions arising from various numerical schemes. This can be used to derive the rate of convergence of the recent particle method introduced in Radici and Stra (SIAM J Math Anal 55(3):2001–2041, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1137/21M1462994) to solve a one-dimensional model of traffic with congestion, as well as recover already known rates for some other approximation methods

Long-term results of laparoscopic Heller-Dor for esophageal-gastric junction outflow obstruction: a prospective comparative study

Background: The aim of this prospective, controlled study was to assess the 5-year follow-up of laparoscopic Heller-Dor (LHD) in patients with esophago-gastric junction outflow obstruction (EGJOO), compared with achalasia patients (ACH). The management of EGJOO reflects the experience gained with esophageal achalasia, for which LHD has been proven to be an effective long-term treatment. Prospective long-term results of LHD in EGJOO patients are still lacking. Materials and methods: Patients with diagnosis of idiopathic EGJOO referred for dysphagia or food-regurgitation, treated with LHD, were enrolled and then followed prospectively for 5 years. During the follow-up, patients were evaluated with Eckardt score (ES), Barium-swallow X-ray, high-resolution manometry (HRM), 24-hour pH-monitoring and endoscopy. Primary outcome was therapeutic success (ES ≤ 3 or no additional treatment). Results: The study involved 150 patients: 25 in the EGJOO group and 125 in the ACH group. After 5 years, there was no significant difference in success rate: 90.5% in the EGJOO group, 87.5% in ACH stage I - pattern I, 91.6% in ACH stage I - pattern II and pattern III ( P = 0.94). The ES and all the HRM parameters were similar in all groups. Moreover, the screening endoscopy and the 24-hour pH-monitoring showed a similar postoperative acid exposure in all groups. Conclusion: This is the first study based on prospective data to assess the long-term outcome of LHD in patients with EGJOO. After at least 5 years of follow-up, LHD has a comparable success rate in both EGJOO and achalasia patients and can be proposed as a safe and effective treatment for EGJOO patients