Re: Jonas Hugosson, Monique J. Roobol, Marianne Månsson, et al. A 16-yr Follow-up of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol 2019;76:43-51: Mortality in the Age Group ≥70 yr and the Case of Italy.

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Comment on Itoh et al. Intensive Treat-to-Target Statin Therapy in High-Risk Japanese Patients With Hypercholesterolemia and Diabetic Retinopathy: Report of a Randomized Study. Diabetes Care 2018;41:1275–1284

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Application of Pattern Recognition Techniques to the Classification of Full-Term and Preterm Infant Cry

Objectives: Scientific and clinical advances in perinatology and neonatology have enhanced the chances of survival of preterm and very low weight neonates. Infant cry analysis is a suitable noninvasive complementary tool to assess the neurologic state of infants particularly important in the case of preterm neonates. This article aims at exploiting differences between full-term and preterm infant cry with robust automatic acoustical analysis and data mining techniques. Study design: Twenty-two acoustical parameters are estimated in more than 3000 cry units from cry recordings of 28 full-term and 10 preterm newborns. Methods: Feature extraction is performed through the BioVoice dedicated software tool, developed at the Biomedical Engineering Lab, University of Firenze, Italy. Classification and pattern recognition is based on genetic algorithms for the selection of the best attributes. Training is performed comparing four classifiers: Logistic Curve, Multilayer Perceptron, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest and three different testing options: full training set, 10-fold cross-validation, and 66% split. Results: Results show that the best feature set is made up by 10 parameters capable to assess differences between preterm and full-term newborns with about 87% of accuracy. Best results are obtained with the Random Forest method (receiver operating characteristic area, 0.94). Conclusions: These 10 cry features might convey important additional information to assist the clinical specialist in the diagnosis and follow-up of possible delays or disorders in the neurologic development due to premature birth in this extremely vulnerable population of patients. The proposed approach is a first step toward an automatic infant cry recognition system for fast and proper identification of risk in preterm babies

3C 17: The BCG of a Galaxy Cluster at z = 0.22

Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph medium-resolution spectra and photometric data of 39 objects in the field of the radio galaxy 3C 17 are presented. Based on the new data, a previously uncataloged cluster of galaxies is identified at a mean redshift of z = 0.220 ± 0.003, a projected virial radius of 0.37 Mpc, and a velocity dispersion of σ v = 821 ± 171 km s-1. The brightest member of this cluster is 3C 17, with M r = -22.45 mag. The surface brightness profile of 3C 17 is best fit with two components (Exponential + Sérsic) characteristic of brightest cluster galaxies. The spectrum of 3C 17 is dominated by broad emission lines Hα + N[ ii] and Hβ + [O iii]. Analysis of Chandra data shows extended emission around the cluster core that supports the existence of hot gas cospatial with 3C 17. The discovery of a cluster of galaxies around 3C 17 better explains the sharply bent morphology of the radio jet given that it propagates through a dense intracluster medium.Fil: Madrid, Juan P.. Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organization; AustraliaFil: Donzelli, Carlos Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez-Ardila, Alberto. Laboratorio Nacional de Astrofisica; Brasil. Instituto Astrofisico de Canarias; EspañaFil: Paggi, Alessandro. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; ItaliaFil: Massaro, Francesco. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; ItaliaFil: Schirmer, Mischa. Gemini Observatorysouthern Operations Center; Chile. Max Planck Institute For Astronomy; Alemani

Powerful Yet Lonely: Is 3C 297 a High-redshift Fossil Group?

The environment of the high-redshift (z = 1.408), powerful radio-loud galaxy 3C 297 has several distinctive features of a galaxy cluster. Among them, a characteristic halo of hot gas revealed by Chandra X-ray observations. In addition, a radio map obtained with the Very Large Array shows a bright hotspot in the northwestern direction, created by the interaction of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) jet arising from 3C 297 with its environment. In the X-ray images, emission cospatial with the northwestern radio lobe is detected, and peaks at the position of the radio hotspot. The extended, complex X-ray emission observed with our new Chandra data is largely unrelated to its radio structure. Despite having attributes of a galaxy cluster, no companion galaxies have been identified from 39 new spectra of neighboring targets of 3C 297 obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph. None of the 19 galaxies for which a redshift was determined lies at the same distance as 3C 297. The optical spectral analysis of the new Gemini spectrum of 3C 297 reveals an isolated Type II radio-loud AGN. We also detected line broadening in [O ii] λ3728 with a FWHM about 1700 km s−1 and possible line shifts of up to 500–600 km s−1. We postulate that the host galaxy of 3C 297 is a fossil group, in which most of the stellar mass has merged into a single object, leaving behind an X-ray halo

New GTC spectroscopic data and a statistical study to better constrain the redshift of the BL Lac RGB J2243 + 203

We present new spectroscopic data of the BL Lac RGB 2243 + 203, and its surroundings, obtained with the OSIRIS Multi Object Spectrograph (MOS) mounted in the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). The spectra of neither the BL Lac nor its host galaxy show any spectral feature, thus hindering direct determination of its redshift. The spectroscopic redshift distribution of objects in the MOS field of view shows four galaxies with redshift between 0.5258 and 0.5288. We make use of a statistical analysis to test the possibility that the targeted BL Lac may be a member of that group. By using the spectroscopic redshifts obtained with our GTC observations, we found that this probability is between 86 and 93 per cent.Fil: Rosa González, D. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Muriel, Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Mayya, Y. D.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Aretxaga, I.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Becerra González, J.. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias; EspañaFil: Carramiñana, Alberto. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Méndez-Abreu, J.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Vega, O. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Terlevich, E-. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Coutiño de León, S.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Furniss, A.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Longinotti, A. L.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Terlevich, R. J.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Pichel, Ana Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Rovero, Adrian Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Donzelli, Carlos Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; Argentin

Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6-8 years from five Italian towns: The MAPEC-LIFE study cohort

Background: Lifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors. Methods: A questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors. Results: The final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level. Conclusions: The socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence

Adverse events following measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine: an independent perspective on Italian pharmacovigilance data

Vaccine surveillance programs are crucial for the analysis of the vaccine's safety profile and the guidance of health policies. The Epidemiological Observatory of the Italian Apulia Region carried out an active surveillance program of adverse effects following immunization (AEFI) after the first dose of the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine, finding 462 AEFIs per 1000 doses, with 11% rated serious. Applying the World Health Organization (WHO) causality assessment algorithm, 38 serious AEFIs/1000 enrolled were classified as 'consistent causal associations' with MMRV immunization. Severe hyperpyrexia, neurological symptoms and gastrointestinal diseases occurred in 38, 20 and 15 cases/1000 enrolled, respectively. A projection of such AEFIs in an Italian birth cohort would give tens of thousands of serious AEFIs. These incidence data are much greater than the incidence of serious AEFIs reported by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) for years 2017 and 2018, mainly based on passive (or mixed) pharmacovigilance. In a previous epidemiological study in the same Italian Region, during an eight year passive surveillance, the reporting rate of serious AEFI was 0.06/1000 doses, and no cases of febrile seizures were detected applying the WHO algorithm. Taken together, the data suggest that passive pharmacovigilance is utterly inadequate to document the real incidence of serious AEFIs and that current methods of assessing causality may be questioned. Active surveillance programs are required in representative population samples, with results presented separately from those of spontaneous reporting, and causality assessment should be performed carefully and using a correct technique for AEFIs presenting as complex and multifactorial diseases, like those with serious neurologic disorders

Influenza vaccination in pregnancy: careful assessment confirms safety concerns for the offspring

Valid evidence does not support universal influenza vaccination for pregnant women, the LTE objections are unfounded. The observational evidence is less valid than that from RCTs: important safety signals in all the RCTs require high consideration. In RCTs, influenza vaccinated women have mostly local adverse effects, while their offspring shows a nonsignificant excess of deaths, and a significant excess of serious presumed/neonatal infections in the larger RCT. Several Authors have financial relationships with vaccine producers, several conclusions omit the safety signals. A cited systematic review has methodological problems and excluded important published RCTs. Waiting for new independent RCTs, the precautionary principle suggests avoiding to promote pregnant women vaccination. Health services could offer it highlighting existing uncertainties, with balanced informations allowing informed choices