Spatial Olfactory Memory and Spatial Olfactory Navigation, Assessed with a Variant of Corsi Test, Is Modulated by Gender and Sporty Activity

Many studies have focused on navigation, spatial skills, and the olfactory system in comparative models, including those concerning the relationship between them and physical activity. Although the results are often in contrast with each other, it is assumed that physical activity can affect cognition in different ways-both indirectly and through a certain influence on some brain structures. In contrast, there is little research that focuses on the relationship between spatial abilities and olfactory abilities in humans. This research aimed to evaluate and compare the performance in working memory tasks of athletes and non-athletes who require good visual-spatial navigation, olfactory-spatial navigation, and olfactory-semantic skills. The study involved 236 participants (83 athletes) between the ages of 18 and 40. All subjects were matched by age or sex. The standard Corsi Block Tapping Test (CBTT) was administrated to investigate the visual-spatial memory. Olfactory-spatial navigation and olfactory-semantic skills were assessed with two modified versions of CBTT: Olfactory CBTT (OCBTT) and Semantic-Olfactory CBTT (SOCBTT) respectively. The results show differences between the CORSI conditions in direction of a poor performance for athletes. A gender effect in favor of men was also found, particularly in the classic version of the CBTT. Both groups performed better in the classic version of the CBTT than OCBTT and SOCBTT. The mean of SOCBTT results is markedly lower, perhaps due to the different information processing systems needed to perform this kind of task. It is possible to explain how sports practice can affect tasks that require spatial skills and olfactory perception differently, thus supporting new hypotheses and opening new scientific horizons

Borderline personality disorder and aggressive behavior: A study based on the DSM-5 alternative model

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Introduction Unplanned reactive aggressive acts are a clinical feature of particular interest in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The early identification of personality traits correlated to aggressive behavior is certainly desirable in BDP populations. This study analyzes a clinical sample of 122 adult outpatients with BPD referred to Adult Mental Health Services of the Department of Mental Health of Bologna, in Italy. Methods The study examines the relationship with personality facets of the DSM-5 alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD), Personality Inventory for DSM (PID-5), with respect to the four main components of aggression measured by the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ): hostility, anger, verbal and physical aggression. Using robust regression models, the relationships between PID-5 facets and domains and the aggression components under consideration were identified. Results Verbal and physical aggression in our sample of BPD outpatients is mainly associated to PID-5 antagonism domain. Physically aggressive behavior is also related to callousness facet. Conclusions The traits most consistently associated with aggression were the domain of Antagonism and the facet of Hostility. The study findings highlight the need for clinicians working with individuals with BPD to pay particular attention to traits of hostility, callousness, and hostility to understand aggression.Peer reviewe

Stress-induced lncRNA LASTR fosters cancer cell fitness by regulating the activity of the U4/U6 recycling factor SART3

Dysregulated splicing is a common event in cancer even in the absence of mutations in the core splicing machinery. The aberrant long non-coding transcriptome constitutes an uncharacterized level of regulation of post-transcriptional events in cancer. Here, we found that the stress-induced long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), LINCO2657 or LASTR (lncRNA associated with SART3 regulation of splicing), is upregulated in hypoxic breast cancer and is essential for the growth of LASTR-positive triple-negative breast tumors. LASTR is upregulated in several types of epithelial cancers due to the activation of the stress-induced JNK/c-JUN pathway. Using a mass-spectrometry based approach, we identified the RNA-splicing factor SART3 as a LASTR-interacting partner. We found that LASTR promotes splicing efficiency by controlling SART3 association with the U4 and U6 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP) during spliceosome recycling. Intron retention induced by LASTR depletion downregulates expression of essential genes, ultimately decreasing the fitness of cancer cells

Legal assessment explaining why COPA*COGECA's objections against the Nature Restoration Act proposal are misleading

In their letter of 26 June 2023 Copa*Cogeca asked the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment to reject the Nature Restoration Law proposal. They based their arguments for this rejection on what they considered as ‘red line’ issues, which makes the law proposal unacceptable to them.As Legal Working Group (LWG) from SERE , we analysed these ‘red line’ issues and we concluded that their red line objections against the Nature Restoration Law proposal cannot withstand legal scrutiny. Many of their concerns are already present in the Commission proposal and are further addressed in the Swedish presidency compromise proposal. Further weakening of the Nature Restoration Law is against existing EU legislation

Legal assessment explaining why COPA*COGECA's objections against the Nature Restoration Act proposal are misleading

In their letter of 26 June 2023 Copa*Cogeca asked the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment to reject the Nature Restoration Law proposal. They based their arguments for this rejection on what they considered as ‘red line’ issues, which makes the law proposal unacceptable to them.As Legal Working Group (LWG) from SERE , we analysed these ‘red line’ issues and we concluded that their red line objections against the Nature Restoration Law proposal cannot withstand legal scrutiny. Many of their concerns are already present in the Commission proposal and are further addressed in the Swedish presidency compromise proposal. Further weakening of the Nature Restoration Law is against existing EU legislation

Legal assessment of the Proposal for an EU Nature Restoration Law:Report by the Legal Working Group of the Society for Ecological Restoration Europe

This assessment is based on the Commission proposal for a Nature Restoration Law (hereafter referred to as NRL) from 22 June 2022.2 The Legal Working Group is aware that the proposal is currently being discussed by the Council and Parliament. It is therefore not an article-by-article assessment, but a more general assessment of several legal aspects of the law we consider to be particularly important. Our choice of the discussed aspects was based on ongoing political discussions on the law (e.g. in the EU parliament and Council). The note gives legal arguments why certain articles should remain in the law or should be amended or added to the law. Legal arguments include legal certainty for stakeholders, coherence with other EU legislation, legitimate expectations, accepted legal principles, etc. Where relevant, we include concrete suggestions for amending and improving the law proposal.<br/

Archeologia dei paesaggi montani in Basilicata: una ricerca integrata nel territorio di Calvello, PZ (Basilicata)

Nel territorio di Calvello (Potenza), Basilicata, un nuovo progetto di ricerca archeologica ha riguardato le pendici settentrionali del monte Volturino (Appennino lucano), fi nalizzato a comprendere le dinamiche di occupazione e sfruttamento di un area montana tra età antica ed età post antica, quest’ultima segnata dalla fondazione del complesso monastico di S. Pietro di Cellaria. La maggior parte delle aree di frequentazione è inquadrabile tra IV e III sec. a.C. ed è caratterizzata da una rete di apprestamenti rurali, legati ad attività agricole e pastorali. Uno degli obbiettivi del progetto riguarda la stretta relazione tra la distribuzione delle unità rurali, la concentrazione delle sorgenti e l’esistenza di tracciati tratturali utilizzati fi no a tempi recenti. Il progetto per l’età medievale ha preso in considerazione l’area occupata dal cenobio di S. Pietro, pertinenza della Congregazione Pulsanese. Il survey e l’analisi delle murature sono state arricchite da un’intensa campagna di prospezioni archeogeofi siche, fi nalizzate all’individuazione di eventuali strutture sepolte. In the territory of Calvello (Potenza), Basilicata, a new archaeological research project covered the northern slopes of Mount Volturino (Lucanian Apennines), aims to understand the dynamics of exploitation of a mountainous area between antiquity and Middle Age, marked by the foundation of the monastery of St. Peter in Cellaria. Most areas are datable between 4th and 3rd centuries. B.C. and are characterized by a network of rural sites, related to agricultural and pastoral activity. The project focuses the close relationship between the distribution of rural units, the wellsprings concentration and the sheep tracks used until now. The project for the Middle Ages takes into account the area occupied by the monastery of St. Peter, tied to the Pulsanese Congregation. Survey campaigns and walls analysis and documentation were followed by an intense campaign of archeogeofi sics prospecting, aimed to discover buried elements

Archeologia dei paesaggi montani in Basilicata: una ricerca integrata nel territorio di Calvello, PZ (Basilicata)

Nel territorio di Calvello (Potenza), Basilicata, un nuovo progetto di ricerca archeologica ha riguardato le pendici settentrionali del monte Volturino (Appennino lucano), fi nalizzato a comprendere le dinamiche di occupazione e sfruttamento di un area montana tra età antica ed età post antica, quest’ultima segnata dalla fondazione del complesso monastico di S. Pietro di Cellaria. La maggior parte delle aree di frequentazione è inquadrabile tra IV e III sec. a.C. ed è caratterizzata da una rete di apprestamenti rurali, legati ad attività agricole e pastorali. Uno degli obbiettivi del progetto riguarda la stretta relazione tra la distribuzione delle unità rurali, la concentrazione delle sorgenti e l’esistenza di tracciati tratturali utilizzati fi no a tempi recenti. Il progetto per l’età medievale ha preso in considerazione l’area occupata dal cenobio di S. Pietro, pertinenza della Congregazione Pulsanese. Il survey e l’analisi delle murature sono state arricchite da un’intensa campagna di prospezioni archeogeofi siche, fi nalizzate all’individuazione di eventuali strutture sepolte. In the territory of Calvello (Potenza), Basilicata, a new archaeological research project covered the northern slopes of Mount Volturino (Lucanian Apennines), aims to understand the dynamics of exploitation of a mountainous area between antiquity and Middle Age, marked by the foundation of the monastery of St. Peter in Cellaria. Most areas are datable between 4th and 3rd centuries. B.C. and are characterized by a network of rural sites, related to agricultural and pastoral activity. The project focuses the close relationship between the distribution of rural units, the wellsprings concentration and the sheep tracks used until now. The project for the Middle Ages takes into account the area occupied by the monastery of St. Peter, tied to the Pulsanese Congregation. Survey campaigns and walls analysis and documentation were followed by an intense campaign of archeogeofi sics prospecting, aimed to discover buried elements