Emotional Valence and Working Memory Performance: Effect of Concurrent Interference in a Spatial Object-Location Task

The mechanisms through which emotional stimuli are processed in working memory (WM) are still poorly understood. In a previous study we found that when emotional and neutral stimuli are presented within the same trial, visuo-spatial WM performance (evaluated in an object-relocation task) is affected by the valence dimension, but not by the arousal dimension (Costanzi et al., 2019). According to Baddeley and Hitch’s model, working memory (1974, 1986) consists of a central executive (CE) and at least two additional subsystems, specifically the “phonological loop” (PL) and the “visuo-spatial sketchpad” (VSSP). The aim of the present research was to investigate the role of the CE and the VSSP in shaping the advantage for emotionally-valenced stimuli in visuo-spatial WM. Three groups of participants watched eight black rectangles appear simultaneously on a computer screen; this was immediately followed by the sequential presentation of eight pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System superimposed onto each rectangle. Pictures differed in valence (negative vs neutral), but not in arousal levels. During encoding, one group of participants (n=30) was submitted to a concurrent task interfering with the CE; the second group (n=26) performed a concurrent tapping task known to affect the VSSP; the third one (n=26) was a control group with no concurrent tasks. Immediately after encoding, all participants had to relocate each rectangle to its original position. Results showed that rectangles that had been associated with negative pictures were better relocated than those associated with neutral ones and that interfering with the CE impaired spatial WM performance. The concurrent tapping task, on the other hand, had no statistically significant effect, although its tendency to moderate the effect of valence deserves further investigation. Taken together, results suggest that emotional valence might affect spatial working memory performance through both automatic and executive processes

The effects of brain concussions on memory in combat and contact sports

It is estimated that as many as 3.8 million concussions occur in the USA per year during competitive sports. Sport-related concussions are known to cause short- and long-term cognitive impairments. However, the mechanism underlying these persistent cognitive changes and long-term neurodegeneration is not fully understood. The literature has extensively focused on contact sports vulnerable to concussions, such as football, hockey, rugby, and basketball. Athletes that practice combat sports - boxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts (MMA) – are also subject to brain trauma. Fighters are not only subject to severe concussions, comparable to those experienced by contact sports athletes, but also to sustained mild traumatic brain injuries, which cause physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Although these symptoms often resolve within one month, in some individuals they can persist for years following injury and may even be permanent and cause disability. To our knowledge, studies have scarcely focused on the cognitive consequences of mild traumatic brain injuries on cognitive abilities in combat sports athletes. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of brain injuries on mnestic abilities in contact and combat sports. We tested 3 groups: rugby athletes, combat sports fighters, and controls. Participants performed two mnestic tests: pattern separation (MST), a measure of episodic memory, and N_Back2-3, a measure of working memory. The results showed that fighters (boxers, muay thai, and MMA) performed worse in both tasks compared to rugby players and controls. These results suggest that athletes subjected to mild repeated brain injuries might present impairments in the encoding and storage of similar stimuli into distinct, non-overlapping representations and in working memory capacity. Further studies are required to better understand which types of concussions are the most detrimental to cognition in combat sports, in order to develop strategies to assess and monitor fighters’ neuropsychological health

Unio Philipsson 1788

Genus Unio Philipsson, 1788, in Retzius (1788) Type species: Mya pictorum Linnaeus, 1758 (fixed by ICZN under the plenary powers; Welter-Schultes, 2012). Type locality: “Habitat in Europaea fluviis”, recent.Published as part of Marrone, Federico, Nardi, Gianbattista, Cianfanelli, Simone, Govedič, Marijan, Barra, Salvatore Alessandro, Arculeo, Marco & Bodon, Marco, 2019, Diversity and taxonomy of the genus Unio Philipsson in Italy, with the designation of a neotype for Unio elongatulus C. Pfeiffer (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Unionidae), pp. 339-374 in Zootaxa 4545 (3) on page 353, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4545.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/261891

Unio elongatulus C. Pfeiffer 1825

<i>Unio elongatulus</i> C. Pfeiffer, 1825 <p>Synonymy</p> <p> <i>Unio glaucinus</i> Porro, 1838; type locality: „fiume Bevera“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio corrosus</i> Villa & Villa, 1841; type locality: „in parvi lacubus provinciae Comensis, et praecipue Eupili lacu (Lago di Pusiano)“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio pallens</i> Rossmässler, 1842; type locality: „Dalmatien“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio Sandrii</i> Rossmässler, 1844; type locality: „Dalmatien“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio pictorum</i> var. a <i>Parva</i> Stabile, 1845; type locality: „fiume Tresa“, Canton Ticino, Switzerland.</p> <p> <i>Unio Sandrii</i> var. <i>sericatus</i> Rossmässler, 1844; type locality: „[Dalmatien]“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio spinellii</i> Spinelli, 1852; type locality: „Lago d’Idro“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Petrovichii</i> Küster, 1854; type locality: “in der Moraka in Montenegro ”, Montenegro.</p> <p> <i>Unio Petterianus</i> Küster, 1854; type locality: “ In Dalmatien im Narentaflusse ”, Croazia</p> <p> <i>Unio viridiflavus</i> Küster, 1854; type locality: “im Moraka-Fluss in Montenegro ”, Montenegro.</p> <p> <i>Unio requienii</i> var. <i>Blauneri</i> Stabile, 1859; type locality: “[lago] di Muzzano“, Canton Ticino, Switzerland.</p> <p> <i>Unio requienii</i> var. <i>Oriliensis</i> Stabile, 1859; type locality: „lago di Orilio od Origlio“, Canton Ticino, Switzerland.</p> <p> <i>Unio requienii</i> var. <i>Ƒulgaris</i> Stabile, 1859; type locality: „nel Ceresio e nella Tresa“, Canton Ticino, Switzerland.</p> <p> <i>Unio ovalis</i> var. <i>intercedens</i> Gredler, 1860; type locality: „Gardasee“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Fiscallianus</i> Kobelt, 1873; type locality: „Dalmatia … Districtshauptstadt Imoschi bei dem Städtchen Glavina“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio requienii</i> var. <i>sebinensis</i> Adami, 1876; type locality: „lago di Iseo“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Dalmaticus</i> Drouët, 1879a; type locality: „La Zermagna, près Muscovitz (district d'Obbrovazzo); le Krupa, affluent de la Zermagna (Dalmatie)“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio robustus</i> Drouët, 1879a; type locality: „ Le Lac de Côme; les rivières de la Lombardie “, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio ceratinus</i> Drouët, 1879b; type locality: „La Zermagna, à Muscovitz, et à Billisane (Dalmatie)“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio Kleciaki</i> Drouët, 1879b; type locality: „Le lac de Prolosaz, près Imoski, en Dalmatie …; la Narenta, en Dalmatie“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio decipiens</i> Drouët, 1881a; type locality: „Le lac de Scutari: Albanie turque”. Montenegro / Albania.</p> <p> <i>Unio brachyrhynchus</i> Drouët, 1881b; type locality: „le lac de Garde, à Sermione, à Desenzano”, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio succineus</i> Drouët, 1881b; “La Zermagna, près de Muscovitz: Dalmatie”, Croazia.</p> <p> <i>Unio Opisodartos</i> Adami, 1882; type locality: „prope Chiari in canalibus Provincia Brixiana“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Stephaninii</i> Adami, 1882; type locality: „lacu Castro Toblini“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio delpretei</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „Castelgoffredo“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio eucallistellus</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „ Lac de Côme “, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Gurkensis</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „lac de Garde, … près de Desenzano“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio padanus</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „Pô à Turin“, Piedmont, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio strobeli</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „ Canal de Gattacchio à Parme“, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio veillanicus</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: „lac d’Avigliano, près de Turin“, Piedmont, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio verbanicus</i> Bourguignat, 1883; type locality: Lac Majeur, près de Laveno “, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Benacinus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le lac de Garde, à Rivoltella“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Brianteus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le lac de Sartirana“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio fluminalis</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le Pô …; l’Oglio …; Mantoue“, Northern Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Gredleri</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le lac de Garde“, Northern Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Idrinus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le lac d’Idro …; le lac d’Iseo“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Longobardus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le Mincio …; l’Osone …; Solferino“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio minusculus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le lac de Garde, près de Desenzano“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio nitidus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le Pô, à Turin …; un étang à Casinalbo, près de Modène“, Piedmont and Emilia- Romagna, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio siliquatus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le Pô, à Turin“, Piedmont, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio subcylindricus</i> Drouët, 1884; type locality: „le Tessin “, Canton Ticino, Switzerland.</p> <p> <i>Unio Larius</i> Kobelt, 1885; type locality: „in Oberitalien, Comersee, Provinz Brescia, Brianza (Villa); im Lambro (Pini)” Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio cusianus</i> Pini, 1885; type locality: „lago Cusio o d’Orta fra Pella e Alzo“, Piedmont, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio rusticus</i> Pini, 1885; type locality: „lago di Garlate o di Pescarenico“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio athesinus</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „Adige, nei vecchi alvei abbandonati dopo la rettificazione del suo corso. … Mattarello, Calliano, Aldeno e Marco“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Bourguignatianus</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „flumine Oglio prope Cannetto, provincia Mantuana“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Cristophori</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „lacu Levici, provincia Tridentina“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Piccinellii</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „Seriate, provincia Bergomese“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Ruffonii</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „Prope Conegliano, provincia Trevisii“, Veneto, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Tommasii</i> Adami, 1886; type locality: „canale Tartarello Fuga prope Castrogoffredi, provincia Mantuana“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio Lijacensis</i> Kobelt, 1890; type locality: „im Lijak, einem Zurfluss des Isonzo, im österreichischen Küstenland “, Slovenia.</p> <p> <i>Unio Lijacensis</i> var. <i>Gallensteini</i> Kobelt, 1890; type locality: „ Torrente Versa im Isonzogebiet “, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio humerosus</i> Westerlund, 1890; type locality: „ Oberitalien im See bei Caldonazzo “, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio limosus</i> var. <i>Arcensis</i> Gredler, 1894; type locality: „ Bei Arco in Sarkathale “, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio limosus</i> var. <i>Costanus</i> Gredler, 1894; type locality: „ Laghetti di Costa bei Pergine“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio limosus</i> var. <i>madranus</i> Gredler, 1894; type locality: „Madrano (Valsugana)“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio humerosus</i> var. <i>Monticellensis</i> Gredler, 1894; type locality: Montiggler See “, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio athesinus</i> var. <i>trilacensis</i> Gredler, 1894; type locality: „“ Mittlerer See von Terlago bei Villa Steffanelli“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio directus</i> Drouët, 1896; type locality: „Le petit lac de Lago, près de Serravalle, province de Trévise“, Veneto, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio palustris</i> Drouët, 1896; type locality: „Les lacs d'Annone, de Pusiano, de Segrino“, Lombardy, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio segregatus</i> Drouët, 1896; type locality: „Le canal de la Brenta, à la Mira, près Padoue”, Veneto, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio thermalis</i> Drouët, 1896; type locality: „Les eaux thermales de Battaglia, dans la province de Padoue”, Veneto, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio istrianus</i> Stossich, 1899; type locality: „ Lago di Cepich nell’Istria“, Croatia.</p> <p> <i>Unio humerosus var. elongata</i> Kobelt, 1914; type locality: „See von Caldonazzo im Trentino “, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio humerosus var. roboretana</i> Kobelt, 1914; type locality: „Etsch bei Roveredo“, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy.</p> <p> <i>Unio morlachicus</i> Kobelt, 1914; type locality: „Dalmatien“, Croatia.</p> <p> <b>Note:</b> As the species is indistinguishable by shell characters, the list of synonyms is deduced from the distribution of the species.</p>Published as part of <i>Marrone, Federico, Nardi, Gianbattista, Cianfanelli, Simone, Govedič, Marijan, Barra, Salvatore Alessandro, Arculeo, Marco & Bodon, Marco, 2019, Diversity and taxonomy of the genus Unio Philipsson in Italy, with the designation of a neotype for Unio elongatulus C. Pfeiffer (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Unionidae), pp. 339-374 in Zootaxa 4545 (3)</i> on pages 353-354, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4545.3.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/2618916">http://zenodo.org/record/2618916</a&gt

Diversity and taxonomy of the genus Unio Philipsson in Italy, with the designation of a neotype for Unio elongatulus C. Pfeiffer (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Unionidae)

Novel Unio spp. populations from Slovenia, the Italian peninsula, Sardinia and Sicily were genetically analysed in order to define the distribution and diversity of the genus Unio in Italy and neighbouring areas. The presence of two primarily allopatric autochtonous species, Unio elongatulus Pfeiffer, and Unio mancus Lamarck, is confirmed for the Italian peninsula, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. Autochthonous populations of Unio elongatulus are present in the peri-Adriatic drainages of the Italian and Balkan peninsulas, south as far as the Ofanto River (Apulia, Italy) and Lake Skadar (Albania), while its presence in the Tyrrhenian rivers of Tuscany is likely due to anthropogenic introduction events. Conversely, Unio mancus turtonii Payraudeau, an endangered peri-Tyrrhenian taxon, was found with autochthonous populations in the Apennine-Tyrrhenian drainages of peninsular Italy, eastern Mediterranean France, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, while the actual autochthony of the single population found in the Ionian basin of the Italian peninsula (Bradano River, Basilicata) deserves further investigation. The Italian population of U. mancus requienii Michaud, reported from Lake Montepulciano is to be considered allochthonous. The binomen U. elongatulus, although widely used in the recent scientific literature, was, to date, assigned to a doubtful species, because its type locality includes a large area inhabited by different Unio taxa, which are not clearly distinguishable by their shell alone; furthermore, no type material is present in historical collections. To retain the recently-used name, a new restricted type locality is established, where only U. elongatulus lives, and a neotype is designated. The validity of the subspecies of Unio mancus is also discussed and confirmed. Finally, hypotheses on the origin of Italian mussels, and considerations on their conservation status are discussed

Pulsatile secretion of LH in agonadal men before and during testosterone replacement therapy

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Incidentally Learned Emotional Valence Affects Spatial Working Memory

Little is known on how emotion information is processed in the working memory system, especially in the visuo-spatial domain. The aim of the present research was to investigate the effect of incidentally learned emotional stimuli on short-term memory for object-location. In the two experiments presented we sought to ascertain the role of valence in spatial working memory by keeping the level of pictures’ arousal constant, and by modulating the level of pictures’ valence. Participants (N=18 in Experiment A; N=21 in Experiment B) were submitted to a modified version of the object relocation task: eight black rectangles appeared (1s) simultaneously on the screen of a computer; this was immediately followed by the sequential presentation of 8 pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (1s for each picture; ISI: 250 ms) superimposed onto each rectangle. Rectangle position was tagged with pictures with comparable arousal levels, negative and neutral in Experiment A, and positive and neutral in Experiment B. In both cases valence is a within-subject factor. Immediately after presentation, participants had to relocate the black rectangles in the original position as accurately as possible. The statistical analyses (paired t- tests) carried out on displacement errors revealed a significant effect of valence: lower displacement errors for negative-related objects compared to neutral ones (t(17) = −2.89; p < 0.05) in Experiment A, and lower displacement errors for objects associated to positive pictures than those associated to neutral ones (t(20) = 2.28; p < 0.05) in Experiment B. Overall, findings show that when arousal is kept constant (at a low level) the position of negative-related objects (Experiment A) or positive- related object (Experiment B) are better relocated than neutral ones in an immediate visuo-spatial working memory test, thus indicating that valence significantly affects visuo-spatial performance

Palaeodiet in Central and Southern Italy from Upper Paleolithic to Eneolithic

The paper presents preliminary datas from EPIC project which aims are claryfing the genetic modification, nutrition and mobility of Central and Southern Italy inhabitants from the Upper Paleolithic to Eneolithic. Analytic methodology and first data are presented

Palaeodiet in central and southern Italy from Upper Palaeolithic to Eneolithic

The foregoing Neolithic farming transition modified whole Europe with strong social and demo-graphic repercussions, which led to the birth of agricultural and breeding systems. Subsequently, important cultural and economic changes occurred during the Eneolithic period. Bogucki (1984) suggests that these changes could be ascribed also to the introduction of the plow and to the intensi-fication of secondary animal product use (milk, dairy products, wool, manure and traction): the so called ‘Secondary Products Revolution’ (Sherratt 1981, 1983). The EPIC project aims to clarify the genetic modification, nutrition and mobility of the Central and Southern Italy inhabitants from the Upper Palaeolithic to Eneolithic, a crucial period of the human demographic and perhaps biological history

High dose esomeprazole as an anti-inflammatory agent in sepsis: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Sepsis is caused by dysregulated immune responses due to infection and still presents high mortality rate and limited efficacious therapies, apart from antibiotics. Recent evidence suggests that very high dose proton pump inhibitors might regulate major sepsis mediators' secretion by monocytes, which might attenuate excessive host reactions and improve clinical outcomes. This effect is obtained with doses which are approximately 50 times higher than prophylactic esomeprazole single daily administration and 17 times higher than the cumulative dose of a three day prophylaxis. We aim to perform a randomized trial to investigate if high dose esomeprazole reduces organ dysfunction in patients with sepsis or septic shock. Methods: This study, called PPI-SEPSIS, is a multicenter, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on critically ill septic patients admitted to the emergency department or intensive care unit. A total of 300 patients will be randomized to receive high dose esomeprazole (80 mg bolus followed by 12 mg/h for 72 h and a second 80 mg bolus 12 h after the first one) or equivolume placebo (sodium chloride 0.9%), with 1:1 allocation. The primary endpoint of the study will be mean daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score over 10 days. Secondary outcomes will include antibiotic-free days, single organ failure severity, intensive care unit-free days at day 28, and mortality. Discussion: This trial aims to test the efficacy of high dose esomeprazole to reduce acute organ dysfunction in patients with septic shock. Trial registration: This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov with the trial identification NCT03452865 in March 2018