Efficacy of a specific rehabilitation protocol in postural control of a young woman with multiple fragility vertebral fractures: a case report

The fragility vertebral fractures have a considerable impact on an individual's health-related quality of life due to pain, limitations in activity, social participation, altered mood and balance impairment. Physiotherapy interventions may have an important role in improving quality of life, balance and reducing the fracture risk in people with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. In literature there are only a few studies that examine exercise interventions in osteoporotic populations with vertebral fracture and few studies that examine the effects on balance with instrumental measurements. In this paper we present a case of a woman with fragility vertebral fractures and a related balance impairment and the effects of a specific rehabilitation program using both clinical evaluations that instrumental measurement

Correction to: Long-term results after stapled hemorrhoidopexy: a survey study with mean follow-up of 12 years

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INDAGINE PARASSITOLOGICA SULLA PRESENZA DI STADI LARVALI DI NEMATODI ANISAKIDAE IN PESCI MARINI ALLEVATI IN ITALIA

L\u2019anisakiasi \ue8 una zoonosi parassitaria di origine alimentare sostenuta da larve al terzo stadio (L3) di nematodi appartenenti alla famiglia Anisakidae ed in particolare al genere Anisakis. Soprattutto in seguito alla recente emergenza di sindromi allergiche da Anisakis, l\u2019EFSA nel 2010 ha pubblicato un parere scientifico sui rischi correlati alla presenza di parassiti zoonotici in prodotti ittici, considerando sicura la pratica d\u2019allevamento del salmone atlantico (Salmo salar) in quanto, se allevati partendo da avannotti prodotti in sistemi chiusi e alimentati sempre con mangime inerte, questi animali presenterebbero un rischio di infestazione da larve di Anisakis trascurabile. Su questa base, il Reg. UE n. 1276/2011, che modifica l\u2019allegato III del Reg. CE n. 853\2004, puntualizza la possibile deroga al trattamento di congelamento, obbligatorio per i prodotti della pesca destinati ad essere consumati sotto forma di preparazioni a rischio (crudi, marinati, affumicati a freddo, ecc.), per i prodotti ittici derivanti da allevamento quando vengono rispettati i criteri definiti dall\u2019EFSA analogamente al salmone atlantico. Appare quindi d\u2019importanza strategica fornire dati scientifici estesi ed attendibili sull\u2019assenza di parassiti zoonotici nei prodotti della maricoltura mediterranea non solo ai fini di una loro migliore qualificazione commerciale ma anche per una pi\uf9 facile applicabilit\ue0 di tale deroga da parte delle autorit\ue0 competenti. Nell\u2019ambito delle attivit\ue0 di ricerca previste dal progetto europeo H2020 ParaFishControl \u201cAdvanced Tools and Research Strategies for Parasite Control in European farmed fish\u201d, da marzo 2016 a giugno 2017 \ue8 stato condotto un esteso monitoraggio parassitologico in spigole (Dicentrarchus labrax) ed orate (Sparus aurata) allevate in Italia. Le attivit\ue0 di campionamento hanno coinvolto 4 allevamenti nazionali, di cui 3 in gabbie galleggianti ed uno in vasche a terra, prelevando almeno 258 esemplari per specie/allevamento suddivisi in 4 campionamenti a cadenza stagionale per un totale di 1040 spigole e 1090 orate. La numerosit\ue0 campionaria \ue8 stata calcolata in modo da ottenere almeno il 95% di probabilit\ue0 di evidenziare un esemplare positivo con prevalenza >2%. Per la ricerca di larve di nematodi Anisakidae sono stati associati: esame visivo diretto e mediante transilluminatore di visceri e porzioni muscolari, metodo della UV-press dei filetti e digestione con soluzione cloro- peptica del pacchetto viscerale. Tutti gli esemplari di spigola e orata esaminati sono risultati negativi per la presenza di stadi larvali di Anisakis spp. In un unico esemplare di spigola proveniente da un allevamento in gabbia \ue8 stata evidenziata la presenza di una larva di Hysterothylacium fabri (nematode non zoonotico) incistata sulla superficie del fegato ed identificata a livello di specie mediante PCR-RFLP. Alla luce della trasmissione di questo parassita a pesci predatori per via trofica, similmente ai nematodi Anisakidae zoonotici, nel prossimo futuro verranno condotte indagini mirate ad identificare i fattori di rischio che hanno condotto all\u2019infestazione da H. fabri in allevamento, seppur in un unico esemplare, ed individuare gli eventuali punti critici da monitorare. I risultati ottenuti da questa indagine indicano comunque come nelle spigole e nelle orate allevate in Italia il rischio d\u2019infestazione da Anisakis sia da ritenersi trascurabile, aprendo la via ad azioni di qualificazione dei prodotti della maricoltura mediterranea

Assessment of Biological and Sanitary Condition of Alien Fish from a High-Mountain Lake (Cottian Alps)

This study aimed to assess the biological and sanitary conditions of alien fish in a high-mountain lake (Balma Lake) located in the Cottian Alps. A single fish sampling session (August 2018) using gillnets collected 90 specimens of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Sex and age were determined (59 females and 31 males, age class 0+ to 4+). Regression analysis showed no difference in total weight and total length between males and females (ANCOVA: F = 0.453; p = 0.954). The mean condition factor (Kmean) decreased with increasing age for males and females. Terrestrial insects were the main prey found in the fish stomachs. The parasitological exam was negative, and the bacteriological exam was positive for Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and C. divergens in 33% of specimens. The total mercury, cadmium, and lead concentration in muscle tissue was within the maximum limit established by the European Commission for human consumption. The brook trout population was found to be well structured; these findings may help local administrations in the implementation of eradication measures

Artificial Sequences and Complexity Measures

In this paper we exploit concepts of information theory to address the fundamental problem of identifying and defining the most suitable tools to extract, in a automatic and agnostic way, information from a generic string of characters. We introduce in particular a class of methods which use in a crucial way data compression techniques in order to define a measure of remoteness and distance between pairs of sequences of characters (e.g. texts) based on their relative information content. We also discuss in detail how specific features of data compression techniques could be used to introduce the notion of dictionary of a given sequence and of Artificial Text and we show how these new tools can be used for information extraction purposes. We point out the versatility and generality of our method that applies to any kind of corpora of character strings independently of the type of coding behind them. We consider as a case study linguistic motivated problems and we present results for automatic language recognition, authorship attribution and self consistent-classification.Comment: Revised version, with major changes, of previous "Data Compression approach to Information Extraction and Classification" by A. Baronchelli and V. Loreto. 15 pages; 5 figure

Novel associations for hypothyroidism include known autoimmune risk loci

Hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid disorder, affecting about 5% of the general population. Here we present the first large genome-wide association study of hypothyroidism, in 2,564 cases and 24,448 controls from the customer base of 23andMe, Inc., a personal genetics company. We identify four genome-wide significant associations, two of which are well known to be involved with a large spectrum of autoimmune diseases: rs6679677 near _PTPN22_ and rs3184504 in _SH2B3_ (p-values 3.5e-13 and 3.0e-11, respectively). We also report associations with rs4915077 near _VAV3_ (p-value 8.3e-11), another gene involved in immune function, and rs965513 near _FOXE1_ (p-value 3.1e-14). Of these, the association with _PTPN22_ confirms a recent small candidate gene study, and _FOXE1_ was previously known to be associated with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Although _SH2B3_ has been previously linked with a number of autoimmune diseases, this is the first report of its association with thyroid disease. The _VAV3_ association is novel. These results suggest heterogeneity in the genetic etiology of hypothyroidism, implicating genes involved in both autoimmune disorders and thyroid function. Using a genetic risk profile score based on the top association from each of the four genome-wide significant regions in our study, the relative risk between the highest and lowest deciles of genetic risk is 2.1