The evolution of the Line of Variations at close encounters: an analytic approach

We study the post-encounter evolution of fictitious small bodies belonging to the so-called Line of Variations (LoV) in the framework of the analytic theory of close encounters. We show the consequences of the encounter on the local minimum of the distance between the orbit of the planet and that of the small body and get a global picture of the way in which the planetocentric velocity vector is affected by the encounter. The analytical results are compared with those of numerical integrations of the restricted three-body proble

Predictive value of the CLL-IPI in CLL patients receiving chemo-immunotherapy as first-line treatment

An international collaboration has led to the development of a comprehensive tool [CLL-IPI international prognostic index for CLL] for the predicting of overall survival (OS) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1 CLL-IPI was based on data collected from 3500 CLL patients and was based on the following parameters: TP53 deletion and/or mutation, IGHV mutational status, \u3b22-microglobulin plasma levels, clinical stage, and age. CLL-IPI provides the means to stratify CLL patients in the daily clinical practice (Supplementary Table 1).1 Although validated for OS2-4 and time to first treatment (TTFT),5 the predictive value of CLL-IPI on progression-free survival (PFS) has until now only been demonstrated in a single study on patients treated with chlorambucil (CLB), as monotherapy, or in combination with obinutuzumab or rituximab, as a first-line approach (CLL11 study),6 and presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in 2016

Groundwater of Rome

This paper describes the contents of the new Hydrogeological Map of the City of Rome (1:50,000 scale). The map extends to the entire municipality (1285 km2) and is based on both the most recent scientific studies on the groundwater field and new survey activities carried out in order to fill the data gaps in several areas of the examined territory. The map is the result of a combination of different urban groundwater expertise and Geographic Information System (GIS)-based mapping performed using the most recent available data and has been produced with the intention of furnishing the City of Rome with the most recent and updated information regarding groundwater

Evaluation of the performance of Dutch Lipid Clinic Network score in an Italian FH population: The LIPIGEN study

Background and aims: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an inherited disorder characterized by high levels of blood cholesterol from birth and premature coronary heart disease. Thus, the identification of FH patients is crucial to prevent or delay the onset of cardiovascular events, and the availability of a tool helping with the diagnosis in the setting of general medicine is essential to improve FH patient identification.Methods: This study evaluated the performance of the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score in FH patients enrolled in the LIPIGEN study, an Italian integrated network aimed at improving the identification of patients with genetic dyslipidaemias, including FH.Results: The DLCN score was applied on a sample of 1377 adults (mean age 42.9 +/- 14.2 years) with genetic diagnosis of FH, resulting in 28.5% of the sample classified as probable FH and 37.9% as classified definite FH. Among these subjects, 43.4% had at least one missing data out of 8, and about 10.0% had 4 missing data or more. When analyzed based on the type of missing data, a higher percentage of subjects with at least 1 missing data in the clinical history or physical examination was classified as possible FH (DLCN score 3-5). We also found that using real or estimated pre-treatment LDL-C levels may significantly modify the DLCN score.Conclusions: Although the DLCN score is a useful tool for physicians in the diagnosis of FH, it may be limited by the complexity to retrieve all the essential information, suggesting a crucial role of the clinical judgement in the identification of FH subjects

Appendectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: a multicenter ambispective cohort study by the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery and new technologies (the CRAC study)

Major surgical societies advised using non-operative management of appendicitis and suggested against laparoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypothesis is that a significant reduction in the number of emergent appendectomies was observed during the pandemic, restricted to complex cases. The study aimed to analyse emergent surgical appendectomies during pandemic on a national basis and compare it to the same period of the previous year. This is a multicentre, retrospective, observational study investigating the outcomes of patients undergoing emergent appendectomy in March-April 2019 vs March-April 2020. The primary outcome was the number of appendectomies performed, classified according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) score. Secondary outcomes were the type of surgical technique employed (laparoscopic vs open) and the complication rates. One thousand five hundred forty one patients with acute appendicitis underwent surgery during the two study periods. 1337 (86.8%) patients met the inclusion criteria: 546 (40.8%) patients underwent surgery for acute appendicitis in 2020 and 791 (59.2%) in 2019. According to AAST, patients with complicated appendicitis operated in 2019 were 30.3% vs 39.9% in 2020 (p = 0.001). We observed an increase in the number of post-operative complications in 2020 (15.9%) compared to 2019 (9.6%) (p < 0.001). The following determinants increased the likelihood of complication occurrence: undergoing surgery during 2020 (+ 67%), the increase of a unit in the AAST score (+ 26%), surgery performed > 24 h after admission (+ 58%), open surgery (+ 112%) and conversion to open surgery (+ 166%). In Italian hospitals, in March and April 2020, the number of appendectomies has drastically dropped. During the first pandemic wave, patients undergoing surgery were more frequently affected by more severe appendicitis than the previous year's timeframe and experienced a higher number of complications. Trial registration number and date: Research Registry ID 5789, May 7th, 202

The Aegis orbit determination and impact monitoring system and services of the ESA NEOCC web portal

The NEO Coordination Centre (NEOCC) of the European Space Agency is an operational centre that, among other activities, computes the orbits of near-Earth objects and their probabilities of impact with the Earth. The NEOCC started providing information about near-Earth objects in 2012 on a dedicated web portal, accessible at https://neo.ssa.esa.int/. Since the beginning of the operational phase, many developments and improvements have been implemented regarding the software, the data provided, and the portal. One of the most important upgrades is that the NEOCC is now independently providing data through a newly developed Orbit Determination and Impact Monitoring system, named Aegis. All the data computed by Aegis are publicly available on the NEOCC web portal, and Aegis is also used to maintain all the major services offered. The most important services comprise an orbital catalogue of all known asteroids, a list of possible future impacts with the Earth (also called Risk List), a list of forthcoming close approaches, a set of graphical toolkits, and an on-demand ephemerides service. Many of the services are also available through dedicated APIs, which can be used to automatically retrieve data. Here we give an overview of the algorithms implemented in the Aegis software and provide a summary of the services offered by the NEOCC that are supported by Aegis.European Space AgencyThe work by D. Bracali Cioci, F. Bernardi, A. Bertolucci, L. Dimare, F. Guerra, V. Baldisserotto, A. Chessa, and A. Del Vigna was conducted under European Space Agency contracts: No. AO/1-9075/17/DE/MRP "P3-COM-VI", No. 4000116371/16/D/MRP "P2-NEO-VII" and its CCN, No. 4000123583/18/D/MRP "P3-NEO-XIII" and its CCN, No. 4000133990/21/D/KS "S1-PD-02".Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronom